HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Increases Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 181 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ventas by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the 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 owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $69.39 on Thursday. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.59 and its 200 day moving average is $63.35. The company has a market cap of $30.33 billion, a PE ratio of 365.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

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.