Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $1.67 Million Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 392 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Ventas were worth $1,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 4.5% in the third quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 5,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VTR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $69.14.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $66.08 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.96. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.45 and a 52 week high of $67.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.88 billion, a PE ratio of 347.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is 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.