Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VTR. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter worth about $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of Ventas 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at $56,529,016.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 6,827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.20, for a total transaction of $431,466.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,360,514.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 200,533 shares of company stock worth $12,737,341 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VTR. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.63.

Ventas Price Performance

VTR stock opened at $65.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.60 and a 200-day moving average of $55.17. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.45 and a 12-month high of $67.61. 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 market cap of $27.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -385.00, a PEG ratio of 2.87 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Ventas’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,058.82%.

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.