Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 1,428 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,428 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Ventas were worth $1,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VTR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $135,425,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the second quarter worth about $73,517,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ventas by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 7,806,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $345,667,000 after purchasing an additional 802,546 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its position in Ventas by 217.4% during the 2nd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 856,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,905,000 after purchasing an additional 586,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Ventas by 1,247.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 496,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,452,000 after purchasing an additional 459,689 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $209,028.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,761,255.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $209,028.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,761,255.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VTR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.63.

Ventas Price Performance

VTR stock opened at $63.93 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.31. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.98 and a 52-week high of $65.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -159.82, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -449.99%.

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.