Swiss National Bank Cuts Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,171,668 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 29,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Ventas worth $69,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Ventas by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,947 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in Ventas by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W raised Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.57. 2,808,390 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,783,474. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a PE ratio of 355.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.00.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

About Ventas

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.