Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 1,818 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,818 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Ventas were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 62.1% during the third quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 27,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 10,620 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Ventas by 7.9% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 332,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,310,000 after purchasing an additional 24,300 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in Ventas by 28.7% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 961,359 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $61,878,000 after purchasing an additional 214,384 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 480.7% during the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 26,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Finally, Presima Securities ULC grew its holdings in Ventas by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,908,000 after acquiring an additional 121,193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $69.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $66.82 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.45 and a 52 week high of $67.61. The stock has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 351.69, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ventas’s payout ratio is 947.42%.

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.