Amalgamated Bank Sells 496 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 80,126 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 496 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Ventas were worth $4,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Ventas by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Ventas by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Ventas by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 4.5% in the third quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 5,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VTR shares. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.71.

Ventas Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $68.81 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $68.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of 362.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. Research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

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.