Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Trims Stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,343 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 866 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $3,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VTR shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,098,153. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ventas Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VTR opened at $66.91 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The company has a market cap of $29.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 352.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.89.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend 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.