Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 244 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $88,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 210 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VTR. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.71.

Ventas Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VTR stock opened at $68.81 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $68.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.17. The company has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 362.16, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

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 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%. Research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. 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 Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’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 transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.