National Pension Service Sells 77,615 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

National Pension Service trimmed its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 538,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 77,615 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Ventas were worth $31,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VTR. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Ventas by 862.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,523,594 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Ventas by 105.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,420,322 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $347,605,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,408 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Ventas by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,364,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,498,385,000 after acquiring an additional 982,795 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ventas by 2.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,710,426,000 after buying an additional 581,870 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of Ventas 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 directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Trading Up 0.8 %

VTR opened at $69.18 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.14 and its 200-day moving average is $62.26. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $69.25. 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 $30.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 364.12, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. 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 yield of 2.78%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on VTR shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.14.

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.