Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 718 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 718 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 332,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,310,000 after purchasing an additional 24,300 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its position in shares of Ventas by 480.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 26,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Presima Securities ULC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,908,000 after acquiring an additional 121,193 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ventas by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,028,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $296,100,000 after acquiring an additional 123,937 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 726.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 4,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $66.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 352.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.00 and a 200-day moving average of $63.10. 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 released 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 net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS 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 boost 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

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.