American Assets Capital Advisers LLC Decreases Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

American Assets Capital Advisers LLC reduced its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,238 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,564 shares during the period. Ventas accounts for about 1.8% of American Assets Capital Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $5,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Ventas by 7.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 332,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,310,000 after purchasing an additional 24,300 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in Ventas by 480.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 26,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares during the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,908,000 after buying an additional 121,193 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ventas by 5.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,904,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $314,499,000 after buying an additional 231,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 3.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 302,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,428,000 after buying an additional 10,134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ventas Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VTR stock opened at $66.91 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $71.04. The firm has a market cap of $29.25 billion, a PE ratio of 352.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.89. 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 (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. On average, analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 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 positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.20.

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.