Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 13,871 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 50.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,231 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 13,871 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Ventas were worth $2,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Ventas by 10.5% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,105 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 19,145 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at $229,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VTR shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total value of $93,025.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 4,375 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.82, for a total value of $287,962.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,409,644.90. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 314,095 shares of company stock worth $20,460,099 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ventas Price Performance

VTR stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $65.80. 2,416,660 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,933,643. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.45. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $52.79 and a one year high of $71.36. The company has a market cap of $29.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 199.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.36% and a net margin of 2.80%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Ventas's payout ratio is presently 581.82%.

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.