Securian Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 222 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 2.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Ventas by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,710,426,000 after acquiring an additional 581,870 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Ventas by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,364,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,498,385,000 after acquiring an additional 982,795 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ventas by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,411,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $665,559,000 after buying an additional 245,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Ventas by 105.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,420,322 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $347,605,000 after buying an additional 2,778,408 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VTR. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.20.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR opened at $66.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The company has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a PE ratio of 352.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $62.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.88.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. As a group, analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

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