Bridgewater Associates LP Grows Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Ventas were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $425,000. Walleye Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 6,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 77.6% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in Ventas by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 53,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,148,000 after purchasing an additional 4,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Ventas by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 66,584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,921,000 after purchasing an additional 18,294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’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 transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 304,778 shares of company stock valued at $20,934,891 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VTR. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 target price on Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Ventas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR opened at $67.79 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.22 and its 200 day moving average is $63.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 356.82, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $42.66 and a 12-month high of $71.36.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.