Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $13.68 Million in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 232,224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $13,676,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.06% of Ventas as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ventas by 1,039.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VTR shares. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Insider Activity

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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 304,778 shares of company stock valued at $20,934,891 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of Ventas stock traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $65.46. 597,122 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,641,652. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 344.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released 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, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas's payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Ventas 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.