Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 2,620 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,620 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Ventas were worth $2,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at approximately $135,425,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in Ventas during the 2nd quarter worth $73,517,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 7,806,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $345,667,000 after acquiring an additional 802,546 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,486,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,091,000 after purchasing an additional 588,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Ventas during the first quarter valued at about $19,551,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wolfe Research raised Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.67.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $2,296,125.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $2,296,125.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total transaction of $1,177,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 156,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,207,444.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ventas Price Performance

NYSE VTR opened at $64.21 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a PE ratio of -337.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.33 and a 52 week high of $65.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.21.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative net margin of 3.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -947.37%.

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.