American Century Companies Inc. Sells 71,240 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,160,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 71,240 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $186,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $66.91 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.10. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.04. The firm has a market cap of $29.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 352.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

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, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $2,852,589.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,622,918.44. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VTR. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

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.