Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,104,450 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 138,803 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.46% of Ventas worth $359,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 336,204 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,799,000 after purchasing an additional 176,958 shares during the period. HGI Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $5,720,000. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ventas by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 14,251 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 1,422 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Ventas by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 951,076 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,987,000 after buying an additional 95,717 shares during the period. Finally, Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at $323,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush upped their price objective on 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 objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company's stock, 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 the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VTR traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.29. The stock had a trading volume of 407,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,671,480. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $29.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 359.09, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $67.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.73. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $43.11 and a one year high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Ventas's payout ratio 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.