Rothschild Investment LLC Decreases Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Rothschild Investment LLC lessened its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,353 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $2,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Trading Down 1.2 %

Ventas stock opened at $66.08 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $28.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 347.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $67.61.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,010.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on VTR shares. Wedbush increased 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. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.14.

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.