Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. Has $2.96 Million Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,203 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 5,257 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Ventas were worth $2,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the third quarter valued at $64,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Ventas by 18.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Ventas by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,712 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,252,460 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $80,070,000 after purchasing an additional 128,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VTR. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $68.18. 1,113,784 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,680,268. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.34 and a 52 week high of $71.36. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $67.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.77. The firm has a market cap 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.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.