Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Invests $2.43 Million in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 41,187 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,426,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Ventas in the 3rd quarter worth $64,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 18.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Ventas by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,712 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Ventas by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,252,460 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $80,070,000 after purchasing an additional 128,945 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ventas by 2.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas 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 transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 304,778 shares of company stock valued at $20,934,891 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Wedbush upped their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR stock traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.51. The stock had a trading volume of 2,895,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,705,716. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 350.07, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $67.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.93. 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 one year low of $44.40 and a one year high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is 581.82%.

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.