37,265 Shares in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Acquired by Sava Infond d.o.o.

Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 37,265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.4% during the fourth 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ventas by 2.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 599,600 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ventas by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,710,426,000 after acquiring an additional 581,870 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,364,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,498,385,000 after purchasing an additional 982,795 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,411,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $665,559,000 after purchasing an additional 245,922 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm’s 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. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR opened at $68.08 on Thursday. 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 $29.76 billion, a PE ratio of 358.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.60 and a 200-day moving average of $63.21. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.04.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on VTR shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 target price on Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas 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.