Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Sells 175 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC trimmed its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $221,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Ventas during the 3rd quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth $67,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VTR. Wedbush raised their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho lowered their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.14.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $69.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.24. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $69.25. The company has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 364.12, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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 2.78%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

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.