Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Ventas Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $64.19 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.94. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $28.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 337.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. Ventas has a 12-month low of $46.66 and a 12-month high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total value of $3,165,794.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,413,086.70. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 69,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.59, for a total transaction of $4,494,947.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 168,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,874,630.76. This represents a 29.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 381,073 shares of company stock valued at $25,880,930 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 3.9% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 4,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 29,695 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.6% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

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.