EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 726.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,630 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ventas were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VTR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VTR shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.20.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE:VTR opened at $66.91 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $29.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 352.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.89. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $71.04.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.