Wealthfront Advisers LLC Has $12.75 Million Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 362.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 169,676 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC owned 0.05% of Ventas worth $12,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Net Worth Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 8,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,871 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 205,632 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,110,000 after acquiring an additional 6,854 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 399,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,527,000 after buying an additional 79,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VTR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on Ventas in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ventas Trading Down 1.4 %

Ventas stock opened at $66.60 on Wednesday. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $71.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.78. 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 has a market capitalization of $29.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 350.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.