Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,778,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $340,282,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VTR. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 54.2% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,495 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 10,365 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at $241,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 302,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,428,000 after buying an additional 10,134 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of Ventas by 0.8% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,801 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,232,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 14.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 320,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,527,000 after acquiring an additional 40,596 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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, Scotiabank raised their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE VTR opened at $68.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.99 and its 200-day moving average is $63.27. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.04. The firm has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 361.81, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the company’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 owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.