TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Acquires Shares of 31,600 Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 31,600 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,861,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Ventas during the third quarter worth $64,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Ventas by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,712 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,252,460 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $80,070,000 after purchasing an additional 128,945 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VTR. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of Ventas 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 owns 1,128,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 304,778 shares of company stock valued at $20,934,891. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:VTR traded down $0.23 on Friday, hitting $68.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,113,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,683,405. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.64 and a 1 year high of $71.36. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $67.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.78. The stock has a market cap of $29.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 358.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.