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

Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Ventas by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 29,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,756,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ventas by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 2.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Ventas by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,252,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,070,000 after purchasing an additional 128,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Ventas by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of VTR stock traded up $1.02 on Wednesday, hitting $58.09. The stock had a trading volume of 832,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,404,385. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.12. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $67.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -341.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Ventas Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.67.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 121,248 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,291,063.89. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.