Sentry Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 357 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $89,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Evoke Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter worth about $6,947,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Ventas by 405.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 171,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,532,000 after acquiring an additional 137,327 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the first quarter worth about $1,005,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $3,560,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 11.5% during the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 7,806,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $345,667,000 after purchasing an additional 802,546 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VTR. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.91.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $2,296,125.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ventas news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $209,028.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,761,255.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $2,296,125.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at $56,529,016.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

Ventas stock opened at $65.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.25. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.33 and a 1-year high of $65.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $26.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -342.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.74). Ventas had a negative net margin of 3.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

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.