Brokerages Set Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Target Price at $72.90

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three 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. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.00.

Several brokerages have recently commented on VTR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus set a $75.00 price target on Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total value of $3,165,794.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,413,086.70. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 313,888 shares of company stock worth $21,536,515. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Presima Securities ULC increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,908,000 after acquiring an additional 121,193 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Ventas by 48.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 39,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after purchasing an additional 12,969 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ventas by 726.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 4,630 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ventas by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,028,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $296,100,000 after purchasing an additional 123,937 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $65.96 on Wednesday. Ventas has a 52 week low of $46.66 and a 52 week high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.29 and its 200-day moving average is $63.96. The company has a market capitalization of $29.77 billion, a PE ratio of 347.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 581.82%.

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.