Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Increases Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Ventas were worth $250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the second quarter worth $25,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Ventas in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Ventas during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the second quarter worth about $51,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of VTR opened at $62.15 on Friday. 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 current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.38. The firm has a market cap of $26.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -365.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,058.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $389,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,900,767.05. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 121,248 shares of the 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 directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,291,063.89. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,252 shares of company stock worth $8,809,845 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.