Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 205,632 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,854 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $12,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ventas by 66.2% in 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 period. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $67.54 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.73. The company has a market capitalization of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 355.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VTR. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.44.

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.