Fmr LLC Sells 1,459,824 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Fmr LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,904,986 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,459,824 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned 5.22% of Ventas worth $1,289,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after buying an additional 912,813 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ventas by 2.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ventas by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,207,000 after acquiring an additional 537,253 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ventas by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,802,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $341,703,000 after purchasing an additional 382,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $340,282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on VTR. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

Ventas stock opened at $65.55 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.39. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $71.36. The company has a market capitalization of $28.68 billion, a PE ratio of 345.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,010.53%.

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.