National Bank of Canada FI Has $11.84 Million Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,989 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,130 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Ventas were worth $11,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,549,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in Ventas by 50.6% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 13,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ventas by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Ventas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Ventas by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 175,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,193,000 after purchasing an additional 10,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Down 5.8 %

Ventas stock opened at $65.55 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $65.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.40. The company has a market capitalization of $28.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 345.01, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.48 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.