Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 33,348 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 273,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 33,348 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Ventas were worth $18,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Ventas by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 39,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 12,969 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ventas by 726.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 4,630 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ventas by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,028,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $296,100,000 after acquiring an additional 123,937 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Ventas by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,499,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $147,180,000 after acquiring an additional 896,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in Ventas by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 230,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,599,000 after acquiring an additional 55,705 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 116,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. The trade was a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total value of $3,165,794.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,413,086.70. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 165,586 shares of company stock worth $10,997,929 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ventas Trading Down 0.1%

VTR opened at $63.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $28.59 billion, a PE ratio of 333.47, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.89. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $65.54 and a 200-day moving average of $63.90. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.33 and a 52 week high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 581.82%.

About Ventas

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.