CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 90.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,516 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Ventas were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in Ventas during the second quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ventas during the second quarter valued at $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ventas during the second quarter valued at $41,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Ventas during the third quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Ventas during the second quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research raised Ventas to a “strong-buy” 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.63.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $64.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $40.98 and a one year high of $66.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -341.95, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $63.06 and a 200 day moving average of $54.70.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 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 firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas’s payout ratio is -947.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at $56,529,016.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at $56,529,016.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 owns 90,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,900,767.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.