Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. trimmed its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 176 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 3.7% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ventas by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Ventas by 3.9% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VTR shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.14.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $66.57 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $67.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -391.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.59 and a 200-day moving average of $61.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a negative return on equity of 0.69%. Equities research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS 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 boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is -1,058.76%.

Ventas Company 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.