Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 26.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,548 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Ventas by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Ventas by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,467 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its position in shares of Ventas by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 18,990 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $63.27 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.06 and a 12-month high of $71.36. The stock has a market cap of $28.55 billion, a PE ratio of 333.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.96 and a 200 day moving average of $63.92.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Ventas’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 581.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 9,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total value of $601,624.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,661,697.80. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $93,025.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 165,586 shares of company stock valued at $10,997,929 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VTR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Argus set a $75.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

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.