Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Receives $72.20 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.90.

VTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Baird R W raised Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ventas by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,916,244,000 after buying an additional 912,813 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,710,426,000 after purchasing an additional 581,870 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ventas by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,364,810 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,498,385,000 after purchasing an additional 982,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ventas by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $643,207,000 after buying an additional 537,253 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VTR traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.91. 3,078,636 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,393,723. Ventas 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 PE ratio of 352.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $63.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.07.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,010.53%.

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.