Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 97,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $5,752,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Ventas by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 35,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,888,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Ventas by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,989,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $176,074,000 after buying an additional 15,139 shares during the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 4,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 779.5% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 385,324 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,692,000 after acquiring an additional 341,510 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.14.

Ventas Trading Up 1.6 %

VTR opened at $70.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.37 and a 200 day moving average of $62.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $71.00. The firm has a market cap of $30.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 370.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share 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, research analysts forecast 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 is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

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

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.