IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Trims Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd trimmed its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,666 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Ventas by 1,334.6% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Franchise Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 10,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.40, for a total value of $695,702.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,219,843. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. This represents a 16.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 348,700 shares of company stock valued at $22,776,223 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VTR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Up 1.2%

VTR stock opened at $68.31 on Tuesday. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.24 and a 12-month high of $71.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.36 and its 200 day moving average is $65.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $30.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.86, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.87.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.75% and a net margin of 3.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 446.51%.

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.