Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC cut its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 369,695 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,486 shares during the period. Ventas makes up approximately 0.9% of Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Ventas worth $21,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Ventas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 18.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Ventas by 11.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,712 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 11.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,252,460 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $80,070,000 after purchasing an additional 128,945 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTR has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.67. The company had a trading volume of 2,112,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,677,554. 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 1 year low of $42.88 and a 1 year high of $71.36. The company has a market capitalization of $30.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 361.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $67.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.66.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. This is a boost from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Ventas's payout ratio is presently 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.