First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 111.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 336,204 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 176,958 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.08% of Ventas worth $19,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % 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 214,679 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ventas Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:VTR traded up $0.62 on Tuesday, reaching $69.12. 2,555,229 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,683,346. The company has a market capitalization of $30.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 363.81, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.64 and a 12 month high of $71.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $67.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.84.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. Equities analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Ventas's payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on VTR shares. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush boosted 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, Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

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.