Net Worth Advisory Group Increases Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Net Worth Advisory Group grew its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 48.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,871 shares during the quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in Ventas were worth $520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.44.

Ventas Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:VTR opened at $67.54 on Tuesday. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 355.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.73.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share 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 analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.