Gregory R. Liebbe Sells 3,866 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ventas Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $66.72 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -392.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $67.61.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a negative return on equity of 0.69%. Equities analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VTR. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 2,671.0% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,577 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 2,484 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Ventas by 9.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 52,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,386,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in Ventas during the third quarter worth about $226,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Ventas by 3.7% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Ventas by 179.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 5,222 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.14.

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.