Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 2,866.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 115,171 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 111,289 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Ventas were worth $7,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ventas by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $643,207,000 after acquiring an additional 537,253 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Ventas by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $365,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347,705 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Ventas by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,133,172 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $361,184,000 after buying an additional 335,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Ventas by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,104,450 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $359,487,000 after purchasing an additional 138,803 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total value of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,429.50. This represents a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 9,110 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total transaction of $601,624.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,661,697.80. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 121,035 shares of company stock valued at $7,832,135 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR stock remained flat at $62.93 during mid-day trading on Friday. 1,328,700 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,887,413. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.57 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The firm has a market cap of $28.40 billion, a PE ratio of 190.70, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.07.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 1.36%. The business's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is currently 581.82%.

About Ventas

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.