Waddell & Associates LLC Invests $381,000 in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Waddell & Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,478 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Ventas by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Ventas by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Ventas by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Ventas by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Trading Up 1.5 %

VTR traded up $1.01 during trading on Monday, reaching $67.12. 508,097 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,648,696. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.37 billion, a PE ratio of 353.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $71.36. The stock's 50-day moving average is $66.47 and its 200 day moving average is $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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas's payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total transaction of $3,165,794.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,413,086.70. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VTR. Scotiabank upped their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.90.

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.