California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 60.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,137,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 427,440 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ventas were worth $66,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in Ventas by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $69.30 on Wednesday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $65.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.31. The stock has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a PE ratio of 364.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.04.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

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.