Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Bought by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS raised its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,308 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 5,610 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Ventas were worth $4,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VTR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at $340,282,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,916,244,000 after purchasing an additional 912,813 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 worth $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,710,426,000 after buying an additional 581,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Ventas by 2,210.7% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 550,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,272,000 after buying an additional 526,198 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

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Ventas Trading Up 0.6 %

VTR stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $69.82. 3,480,702 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,604,759. 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 fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $65.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.35. The company has a market capitalization of $30.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 368.28, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Ventas's payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VTR shares. 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 report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

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.