Carmel Capital Partners LLC Purchases 195 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.2% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.14.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, 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 transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Price Performance

NYSE:VTR opened at $70.50 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 371.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.45 and a 12-month high of $71.04.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,010.53%.

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.