Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 60.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 107,080 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 162,275 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Ventas were worth $6,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Ventas in the third quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VTR. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.14.

Ventas Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of VTR opened at $66.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.90. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $67.61. The stock has a market cap of $28.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 347.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 947.42%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.