Brasada Capital Management LP Buys 5,293 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Brasada Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 36.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,788 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,293 shares during the quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ventas by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after purchasing an additional 912,813 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 valued at $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $643,207,000 after buying an additional 537,253 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Ventas by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,133,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $361,184,000 after buying an additional 335,192 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Ventas by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,104,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,487,000 after buying an additional 138,803 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 have sold a total of 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $68.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.89 billion, a PE ratio of 359.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.66. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $42.88 and a 1 year high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

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.