iA Global Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 9,904 Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,904 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $583,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 192,829 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,356,000 after acquiring an additional 17,055 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Ventas by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 61,405 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,616,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Ventas by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 60,079 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in Ventas by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 188,063 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $11,075,000 after purchasing an additional 23,332 shares during the period. Finally, one8zero8 LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,800,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.90.

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Ventas Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VTR traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $67.76. 1,296,323 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,411,512. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $29.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 356.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.04.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. Equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ventas Company Profile

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.