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

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,756 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ventas by 1,039.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho raised their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.90.

Ventas Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $68.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $29.73 billion, a PE ratio of 358.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.25. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $71.04. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. Equities research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Company Profile

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.