Whittier Trust Co. Cuts Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Whittier Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,354 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 761 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VTR. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its position in Ventas by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ventas by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Ventas by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Ventas by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ventas Price Performance

VTR stock opened at $66.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.00 and a 200-day moving average of $63.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 352.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $71.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,010.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VTR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Wedbush raised their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Ventas 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.