Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 1,673 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,673 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Ventas were worth $3,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Ventas by 862.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,932,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $252,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,523,594 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,364,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,498,385,000 after buying an additional 982,795 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,710,426,000 after acquiring an additional 581,870 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Ventas by 2,210.7% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 550,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,272,000 after acquiring an additional 526,198 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VTR shares. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $2,852,589.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $78,622,918.44. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR opened at $68.08 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $71.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a PE ratio of 358.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

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.