Cerity Partners LLC Makes New $372,000 Investment in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,464 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VTR. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 70,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,967,000 after acquiring an additional 23,067 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 262,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,078,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 109,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,623,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 61,041 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ventas Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE VTR opened at $44.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $17.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -400.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.07. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $39.33 and a one year high of $50.99.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,636.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Ventas in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ventas from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.25.

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.