National Pension Service Has $31.74 Million Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

National Pension Service lowered its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 538,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 77,615 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.13% of Ventas worth $31,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,163 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in Ventas by 9.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,673 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $877,000 after buying an additional 1,148 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management bought a new stake in Ventas during the third quarter worth $234,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Ventas by 3.5% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 20,810 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in shares of Ventas by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,170 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR stock traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $70.50. 2,083,155 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,364,426. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $71.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $30.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 371.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.51.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. On average, analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Ventas's payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 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 Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush increased their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ventas has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $71.14.

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.