Korea Investment CORP Buys 77,890 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Korea Investment CORP grew its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 272,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,890 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of Ventas worth $16,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VTR. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Ventas by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 6,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after buying an additional 912,813 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $360,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Ventas by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 226,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,332,000 after buying an additional 11,767 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,585,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VTR shares. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. 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 report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Price Performance

Ventas stock opened at $68.74 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results 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 analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.