Vestcor Inc Has $6.27 Million Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,468 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,721 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Ventas were worth $6,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ventas by 1,039.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of Ventas 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VTR shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating 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. Four equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.20.

Ventas Price Performance

NYSE:VTR opened at $66.31 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.64 and a 200-day moving average of $62.80. The company has a market capitalization of $28.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 349.01, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.45 and a 52 week high of $71.04. 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 (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.