Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,178,095 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,463,280 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,178,095 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 3.76% of Ventas worth $1,132,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Franchise Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Ventas by 175.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 622 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ventas by 1,039.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR remained flat at $62.93 during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 1,328,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,882,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $51.57 and a one year high of $71.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 190.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.87. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $64.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.01.

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

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 581.82%.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total value of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,429.50. This trade represents a 16.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 9,110 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total transaction of $601,624.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,661,697.80. The trade was a 0.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 121,035 shares of company stock valued at $7,832,135. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.