40,211 Shares in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Acquired by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 40,211 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,368,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ventas by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total value of $3,165,794.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,413,086.70. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 304,778 shares of company stock valued at $20,934,891 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ventas Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $66.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $67.36 and its 200 day moving average is $63.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.28 billion, a PE ratio of 352.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $42.66 and a 1 year high of $71.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. Equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.