Employees Retirement System of Texas Has $8.89 Million Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Employees Retirement System of Texas cut its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 173,399 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 110,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Ventas were worth $8,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VTR. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 256.8% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 62,382 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 44,900 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ventas by 26.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 54,943 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,789,000 after buying an additional 11,507 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 217.4% in the second quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 856,525 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,905,000 after buying an additional 586,676 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 60.4% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 77,078 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,951,000 after buying an additional 29,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $20,460,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $389,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 90,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,900,767.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ventas news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $209,028.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 104,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,761,255.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $389,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,900,767.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock valued at $4,526,464 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Ventas Trading Down 1.6 %

Ventas stock traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $63.82. The company had a trading volume of 4,166,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,397,943. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.33 and a fifty-two week high of $65.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm's fifty day moving average is $59.58 and its 200-day moving average is $51.44.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.74). Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Ventas's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -947.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VTR. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ventas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.67.

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.