Aew Capital Management L P Increases Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Aew Capital Management L P increased its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 33.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 988,126 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 248,340 shares during the quarter. Ventas comprises 2.8% of Aew Capital Management L P's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Aew Capital Management L P owned about 0.24% of Ventas worth $58,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Price Performance

VTR stock traded up $0.69 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.50. 2,082,955 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,367,859. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $61.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.46. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.08. The company has a market cap of $30.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 371.07, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas's payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VTR shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Wedbush boosted their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 in the last three months. Corporate 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.