Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 261 shares during the period. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.3% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 138,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,369 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the second quarter worth about $549,000. Certuity LLC acquired a new position in Ventas in the 2nd quarter valued at $230,000. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Ventas by 4.7% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter worth about $9,938,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ventas from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 121,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $8,022,980.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at $65,291,063.89. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $58.09. 832,409 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,404,385. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $67.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.81 and its 200 day moving average is $60.12. The stock has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -341.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,058.82%.

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.