iA Global Asset Management Inc. Invests $583,000 in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 9,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $583,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 599,600 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,710,426,000 after purchasing an additional 581,870 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 982,795 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,411,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $665,559,000 after buying an additional 245,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ventas by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,028,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $296,100,000 after buying an additional 123,937 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wedbush lifted 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. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.90.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $66.91 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.10. 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 company has a market cap of $29.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 352.16, a PEG 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 net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. Analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Ventas Company 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.