Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 21,289 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Ventas were worth $7,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ventas by 1,039.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VTR shares. Argus set a $75.00 price target on Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ventas Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE VTR opened at $69.39 on Thursday. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $71.04. The company has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 365.23, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.35. 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 (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. Equities research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. 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. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio 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.