Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Ventas were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 862.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,932,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $252,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,523,594 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Ventas by 105.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ventas by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,364,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,498,385,000 after buying an additional 982,795 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.2% during the 3rd 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. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Up 2.5 %

Ventas stock opened at $66.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.55. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $67.61. The company has a market capitalization of $27.93 billion, a PE ratio of -391.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a negative return on equity of 0.69% and a negative net margin of 1.38%. Research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,058.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.14.

Ventas Profile

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.