Patten Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Patten Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the quarter. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Ventas during the third quarter worth about $64,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ventas has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $2,852,589.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,622,918.44. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR opened at $69.95 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.58 and its 200-day moving average is $62.46. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.45 and a 12-month high of $71.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $30.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 368.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

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.