Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Increases Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 135.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,780 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Ventas in the second quarter worth approximately $51,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on VTR. Wedbush upped their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.11.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR opened at $62.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -329.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.43. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.33 and a 52-week high of $65.64.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently -947.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total value of $1,177,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at $9,207,444.61. 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 is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total value of $1,177,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at $9,207,444.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.