40,211 Shares in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Purchased by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 40,211 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,368,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $340,282,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,489.5% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,456,112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $85,750,000 after buying an additional 1,364,504 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.4% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 912,813 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,499,228 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $147,180,000 after buying an additional 896,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Down 0.3 %

VTR stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.18. 1,113,784 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,683,405. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.64 and a 12 month high of $71.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.80. The company has a market capitalization of $29.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 358.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 304,778 shares of company stock valued at $20,934,891. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on VTR shares. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Argus set a $75.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. 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.com, Ventas has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.