Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its position in Ventas, Inc. by 9.5%, now holding a total of 55,448 shares valued at approximately $3.81 million.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Ventas, with an average target price of $72.90.
• Ventas recently reported a net revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, exceeding estimates and showing an 18.3% year-over-year increase.

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,822 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Ventas were worth $3,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new position in Ventas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $276,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Ventas by 40.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,773 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,391,000 after buying an additional 10,091 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ventas during the first quarter worth $579,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at $13,321,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on VTR. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of VTR traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.55. 1,692,661 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,788,376. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.68 and a 52-week high of $71.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.30. The firm has a market cap of $31.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 159.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.75% and a net margin of 3.61%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 446.51%.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 10,322 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.40, for a total value of $695,702.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at $77,219,843. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 29,691 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total value of $2,033,536.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,531,250.36. This trade represents a 14.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 378,391 shares of company stock worth $24,809,760. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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.