The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $16.47 Million Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 279,618 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 23,329 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.07% of Ventas worth $16,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ventas by 1,039.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Argus set a $75.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:VTR traded down $0.74 on Tuesday, hitting $65.88. 3,261,924 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,700,727. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.66 and a 52 week high of $71.36. The company has a market cap of $28.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 346.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. 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. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 581.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,888 shares of company stock valued at $21,536,515. 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.