BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Reduces Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lowered its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) by 80.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,308 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 77,047 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Ventas were worth $1,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 304,778 shares of company stock valued at $20,934,891. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,113,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,680,256. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.34 and a 12 month high of $71.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.84 billion, a PE ratio of 358.86, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $67.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.77.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is an increase from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.