Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 1,101,909 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 52.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 981,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,101,909 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $42,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Ventas by 6.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 81,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,443,000 after acquiring an additional 4,994 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ventas by 10.9% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 8,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Ventas by 73.4% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in Ventas by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 97,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,840,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Ventas by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 25,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ventas from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Ventas from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.92.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 18,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $871,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 176,403 shares in the company, valued at $8,310,345.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 14,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.70, for a total value of $697,612.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,524 shares in the company, valued at $597,394.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 18,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $871,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 176,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,310,345.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,270 shares of company stock worth $1,672,966. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.30. 504,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,300,831. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $21.57 billion, a PE ratio of -281.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.33. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.33 and a 1 year high of $53.54.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 18th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently -947.32%.

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.