Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $2.12 Million Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ventas were worth $2,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Ventas by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Ventas by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Ventas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $236,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ventas by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Ventas by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:VTR opened at $69.18 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $61.14 and its 200-day moving average is $62.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.45 and a 52 week high of $69.25. The firm has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 364.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS 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%. Equities analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.14.

Ventas 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.