Waddell & Associates LLC Invests $381,000 in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Waddell & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 6,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’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 value 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 $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total transaction of $3,165,794.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at $81,413,086.70. The trade was a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR opened at $63.38 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.73 billion, a PE ratio of 333.57, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wedbush upped their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas presently has an average 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.