Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 403,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Ventas were worth $27,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $365,563,000 after buying an additional 2,347,705 shares during the period. Rush Island Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 130.6% during the fourth quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 3,097,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $182,431,000 after buying an additional 1,754,494 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,489.5% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,456,112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $85,750,000 after buying an additional 1,364,504 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth $67,719,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,196.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,166,840 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,737,000 after buying an additional 1,076,803 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $65.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.87. The company has a market cap of $29.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 197.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.87. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.42 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 1.36%. The company’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 581.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 168,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $11,001,264.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,004,271.04. The trade was a 49.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 14,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.60, for a total transaction of $967,796.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,157,592. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 343,588 shares of company stock worth $22,415,190. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.