Allianz SE Buys New Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 22,588 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,322,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ventas by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ventas Price Performance

VTR opened at $68.74 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.27. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The stock has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 361.81, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 2.79%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.90.

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.