Focus Partners Wealth Decreases Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Focus Partners Wealth cut its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 58.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,380 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 13,176 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Ventas were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ventas by 2.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ventas by 77.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,502 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 4,594 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,103 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 5,115 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Ventas by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,853 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VTR shares. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $93,025.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 311,481 shares of company stock worth $21,385,983. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ventas Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE VTR opened at $65.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 344.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.66 and a 52-week high of $71.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Ventas's payout ratio is currently 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.

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