Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Trims Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC decreased its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 83.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,098 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 66,949 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Ventas by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ventas by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Ventas by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VTR shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $68.18 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.78. The company has a market cap of $29.84 billion, a PE ratio of 358.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $43.64 and a one year high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. 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 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.