Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Invests $879,000 in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,780 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,916,244,000 after acquiring an additional 912,813 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,207,000 after acquiring an additional 537,253 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $365,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347,705 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 5.8% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 335,192 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Ventas by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,104,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $359,487,000 after buying an additional 138,803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $63.65 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 335.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.89. 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 $49.26 and a 1 year high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 581.82%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total value of $1,509,405.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 116,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,429.50. The trade was a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,413,086.70. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,586 shares of company stock worth $10,997,929. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus set a $75.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

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.