Townsend & Associates Inc Has $2.73 Million Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Townsend & Associates Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 635 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Ventas were worth $2,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Ventas by 7.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 332,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,310,000 after buying an additional 24,300 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its holdings in Ventas by 28.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 961,359 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $61,878,000 after buying an additional 214,384 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in Ventas by 480.7% during the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 26,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,681,000 after buying an additional 21,700 shares during the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,908,000 after acquiring an additional 121,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,904,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $314,499,000 after acquiring an additional 231,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush upped their target price 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. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Price Performance

VTR opened at $66.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 347.79, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.20 and a 200 day moving average of $61.93. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $67.61.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

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.