AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 169,262 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 69.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 411,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 169,262 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Ventas worth $24,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $340,282,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Ventas by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $365,563,000 after buying an additional 2,347,705 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Ventas by 1,489.5% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,456,112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $85,750,000 after buying an additional 1,364,504 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ventas by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,916,244,000 after buying an additional 912,813 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,499,228 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $147,180,000 after acquiring an additional 896,717 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value 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 $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR stock opened at $66.51 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.62 and a 200 day moving average of $63.94. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.53 and a 1 year high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 350.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is 581.82%.

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.

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