US Bancorp DE Has $1.29 Million Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ventas by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Up 0.2 %

Ventas stock opened at $67.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.64. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 357.09, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. 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 (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid 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 2.83%. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Wedbush raised their target price 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. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.38.

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.