Insider Selling: Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CAO Sells 3,866 Shares of Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ventas Stock Up 0.3 %

VTR stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.72. The company had a trading volume of 3,394,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,555,377. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $27.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -392.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $67.61.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a negative return on equity of 0.69%. Analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Ventas by 2,671.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,577 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,484 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Ventas by 9.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 52,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,386,000 after acquiring an additional 4,593 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at $226,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Ventas by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Ventas by 179.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 5,222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VTR. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.14.

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.