Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Boosts Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 843,881 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 161,843 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned 0.20% of Ventas worth $49,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VTR. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Ventas by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 975 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VTR shares. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.00.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $93,025.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 311,481 shares of company stock valued at $21,385,983. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR opened at $65.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 344.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.94. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.66 and a 1-year high of $71.36.

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

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.