Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Position Increased by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 0.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 323,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Ventas were worth $20,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ventas in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Ventas during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Ventas in the 3rd quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 121,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total transaction of $8,022,980.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,291,063.89. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Mizuho cut their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.63.

Ventas Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $59.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.00. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $67.61. The firm has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -352.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Ventas’s payout ratio is -1,058.82%.

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.