Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,616 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 21,216 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Ventas worth $17,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,334.6% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Franchise Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Ventas during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:VTR traded down $0.16 on Friday, hitting $68.55. 1,692,661 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,788,376. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.69 and a 200-day moving average of $65.36. The stock has a market cap of $31.15 billion, a PE ratio of 159.42, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.68 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.75% and a net margin of 3.61%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 446.51%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 14,753 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.60, for a total transaction of $967,796.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at $75,157,592. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total value of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,429.50. The trade was a 16.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 378,391 shares of company stock worth $24,809,760. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas 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.