Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 179.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,222 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in 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 valued at $8,532,000 after buying an additional 137,327 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Ventas in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Vert Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ventas by 6.1% in the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 167,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,286,000 after purchasing an additional 9,598 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total value of $209,028.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,761,255.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total value of $209,028.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,761,255.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $389,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,900,767.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ventas Price Performance

Ventas stock opened at $64.86 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.23. The stock has a market cap of $26.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -162.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.98 and a 12-month high of $65.64.

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

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently -449.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.63.

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.