Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $11.36 Million Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,829 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 17,055 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Ventas were worth $11,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Ventas by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 332,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $21,310,000 after buying an additional 24,300 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in Ventas by 480.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 26,214 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 21,700 shares during the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC grew its holdings in Ventas by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,908,000 after purchasing an additional 121,193 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ventas by 726.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 4,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ventas by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,028,015 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $296,100,000 after purchasing an additional 123,937 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VTR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $78,622,918.44. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of VTR traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.61. 3,428,710 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,414,687. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.45 and a 52 week high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a PE ratio of 355.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.18.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas's payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Ventas Company 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.