Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

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

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ventas by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after acquiring an additional 912,813 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ventas by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $643,207,000 after acquiring an additional 537,253 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Ventas by 60.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,347,705 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Ventas by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,133,172 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $361,184,000 after acquiring an additional 335,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Ventas by 2.3% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 138,803 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VTR. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Ventas stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $62.75. 2,316,214 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,895,095. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.67 and a 1 year high of $71.36. The stock's fifty day moving average is $63.95 and its 200 day moving average is $64.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $28.32 billion, a PE ratio of 190.15, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.87.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.36% and a net margin of 2.80%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 581.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 9,110 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total value of $601,624.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,661,697.80. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total value of $93,025.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,454 shares in the company, valued at $1,750,467.04. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 121,035 shares of company stock worth $7,832,135. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.