Vontobel Holding Ltd. Takes Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $135,425,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $73,517,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 802,546 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in Ventas by 217.4% in the 2nd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 856,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,905,000 after buying an additional 586,676 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Ventas by 1,247.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 496,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,452,000 after acquiring an additional 459,689 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE VTR opened at $65.86 on Thursday. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.98 and a 52 week high of $66.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -346.63, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. 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 fifty day moving average of $62.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.31.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released 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). Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Ventas’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Ventas’s payout ratio is -947.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $2,296,125.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of Ventas 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,207,444.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock valued at $4,526,464. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Ventas

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.