Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,837 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Ventas by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 128,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,539,000 after acquiring an additional 7,449 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,423,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,856,000 after purchasing an additional 94,791 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Ventas by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 84,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,962,000 after purchasing an additional 9,010 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 11,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Ventas by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 329,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,420,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $66.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 351.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.79. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.45 and a 52 week high of $67.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.39 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s payout ratio is 947.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.14.

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.