Wolverine Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 58.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 3rd quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $67,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush raised their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.14.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $67.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion, a PE ratio of 356.93, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $68.02.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued 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 return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. On average, analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. 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. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,010.53%.

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.