Korea Investment CORP Increases Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 272,702 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 77,890 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.07% of Ventas worth $16,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Ventas by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 6,092 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ventas by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after acquiring an additional 912,813 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $360,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 226,381 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,332,000 after acquiring an additional 11,767 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth $9,585,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VTR. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.90.

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Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR traded up $0.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $70.19. The company had a trading volume of 3,298,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,603,918. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 369.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. On average, research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $2,852,589.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $78,622,918.44. This trade represents a 3.50 % 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 over the last three months. 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.