Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 26.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,651 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 5,548 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Ventas were worth $1,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ventas by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,916,244,000 after purchasing an additional 912,813 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ventas by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $643,207,000 after purchasing an additional 537,253 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Ventas by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $365,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Ventas by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,133,172 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $361,184,000 after purchasing an additional 335,192 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 116,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. This trade represents a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of Ventas 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 165,586 shares of company stock worth $10,997,929. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Ventas Price Performance

Ventas stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $63.65. 3,533,048 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,772,670. The company has a market cap of $28.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 335.00, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.92. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.06 and a 12-month high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is presently 581.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.00.

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.