Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,247,415 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 540,618 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 1.25% of Ventas worth $309,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Presima Securities ULC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $25,908,000 after buying an additional 121,193 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 39,760 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,341,000 after buying an additional 12,969 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 726.8% during 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ventas by 2.5% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 123,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in 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 during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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 research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $67.56. 376,518 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,648,125. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.36. The company has a market cap of $29.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 355.60, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.