Fmr LLC Has $1.29 Billion Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

FMR LLC reduced its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,904,986 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,459,824 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned 5.22% of Ventas worth $1,289,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on VTR. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR traded up $0.44 on Friday, reaching $66.04. The company had a trading volume of 3,452,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,653,947. The stock has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 347.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The company's fifty day moving average is $66.47 and its 200 day moving average is $63.45.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. As a group, analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas's payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total transaction of $3,165,794.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $81,413,086.70. This represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

About Ventas

Ventas Inc NYSE: VTR is a leading S&P 500 real estate investment trust focused on delivering strong, sustainable shareholder returns by enabling exceptional environments that benefit a large and growing aging population. The Company's growth is fueled by its senior housing communities, which provide valuable services to residents and enable them to thrive in supported environments.