Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CAO Sells $243,558.00 in Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR opened at $66.82 on Thursday. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $67.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 351.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. On average, research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 947.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position 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 during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 9.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 52,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,386,000 after acquiring an additional 4,593 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the third quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 3.7% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 179.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,222 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on VTR. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.