American Century Companies Inc. Sells 71,240 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,160,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 71,240 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.75% of Ventas worth $186,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 39,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after buying an additional 12,969 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at about $77,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 63,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 4,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 4,445 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 27,411 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,614,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in Ventas by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 225,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,272,000 after purchasing an additional 64,877 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. 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. 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. 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. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Price Performance

Ventas stock opened at $66.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.00 and a 200-day moving average of $63.10. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 352.16, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the business’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 value of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.