Employees Retirement System of Texas Reduces Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 38.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 173,399 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 110,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Ventas were worth $8,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth $220,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Ventas by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 83,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,181,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ventas by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,857 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 2,570 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its position in Ventas by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 11,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 3,195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ventas news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total transaction of $1,177,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at $9,207,444.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank raised their target price on Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.67.

Ventas Price Performance

VTR stock opened at $64.89 on Thursday. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.33 and a 52 week high of $65.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -341.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

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

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Ventas’s payout ratio is -947.37%.

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.