Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 25.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 694,376 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 142,680 shares during the period. Ventas accounts for 8.3% of Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC owned 0.17% of Ventas worth $40,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 29,695 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,749,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Ventas by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in Ventas by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Ventas by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Ventas stock traded up $1.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $64.78. The company had a trading volume of 3,411,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,731,056. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.66 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The firm's fifty day moving average is $67.03 and its 200-day moving average is $63.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $29.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 340.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 581.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on VTR. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03% 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, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 27,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,750,467.04. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 311,481 shares of company stock worth $21,385,983 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.