Allworth Financial LP Grows Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 52.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Ventas were worth $164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the 4th 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. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.14.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR stock opened at $66.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 347.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.93. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.45 and a 12-month high of $67.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its 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 return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

About Ventas

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.