Rothschild Investment LLC Lowers Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Rothschild Investment LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,713 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,528 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC's holdings in Ventas were worth $2,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at about $340,282,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ventas by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $365,563,000 after buying an additional 2,347,705 shares during the period. Rush Island Management LP raised its position in shares of Ventas by 130.6% during the 4th quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 3,097,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $182,431,000 after buying an additional 1,754,494 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Ventas by 1,489.5% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,456,112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $85,750,000 after buying an additional 1,364,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,719,000. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 116,650 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,429.50. This trade represents a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 9,110 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total value of $601,624.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,661,697.80. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 165,586 shares of company stock valued at $10,997,929. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ventas Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:VTR traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $63.26. 3,111,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,762,018. The stock has a market cap of $28.55 billion, a PE ratio of 332.96, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.06 and a twelve month high of $71.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.27 and a 200 day moving average of $63.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. Ventas's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 581.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.00.

About Ventas

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.