Townsend & Associates Inc Trims Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Townsend & Associates Inc cut its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 635 shares during the quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Ventas were worth $2,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 862.7% during 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 buying an additional 3,523,594 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Ventas by 105.2% during 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 period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 4.4% during the third 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,710,426,000 after buying an additional 581,870 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on VTR. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.14.

Ventas Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE VTR opened at $66.08 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $67.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.20 and a 200-day moving average of $61.93. The firm has a market cap of $28.88 billion, a PE ratio of 347.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

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.