Legal & General Group Plc Sells 315,048 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,901,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 315,048 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.46% of Ventas worth $302,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the second quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ventas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Ventas in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $389,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,900,767.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,065 shares of company stock valued at $4,526,464 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.67.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR opened at $63.84 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.72. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.33 and a 52-week high of $65.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.38 billion, a PE ratio of -335.98, a PEG ratio of 2.83 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). The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently -947.32%.

Ventas Company 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.