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

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $88,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VTR. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $21,310,000 after acquiring an additional 24,300 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 480.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 26,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares during the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC increased its position in shares of Ventas by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,908,000 after purchasing an additional 121,193 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 5.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 231,352 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 302,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,428,000 after buying an additional 10,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VTR. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho cut their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.71.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $68.81 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.45 and a 12-month high of $68.99. 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 market cap of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of 362.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.17.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Ventas’s payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related 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 value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is 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.