Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,802,402 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 382,080 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.38% of Ventas worth $341,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $684,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $643,207,000 after buying an additional 537,253 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Ventas by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,335,843 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $78,668,000 after acquiring an additional 83,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Ventas by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,335,585 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $78,653,000 after purchasing an additional 198,974 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, 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 transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,138,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,622,918.44. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VTR shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Ventas stock traded down $0.86 during trading on Monday, reaching $64.66. 1,630,888 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,615,686. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $71.36. The firm has a market cap of $28.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 339.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock's fifty day moving average is $65.89 and its 200 day moving average is $63.39.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

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.