Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $3.75 Million Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 58.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,406 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 82,102 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Ventas were worth $3,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the second quarter worth $3,716,000. Friedenthal Financial boosted its holdings in Ventas by 1,183.7% during the third quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 12,773 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 11,778 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV grew its position in shares of Ventas by 62.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 27,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 10,620 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at about $544,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 480.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 35,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 29,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $389,940.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,900,767.05. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 121,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $8,022,980.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,291,063.89. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,079 shares of company stock valued at $9,241,311. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VTR. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.63.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $63.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $26.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -371.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.08 and its 200-day moving average is $57.68. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $67.61.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas’s payout ratio is -1,058.82%.

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.