Debra A. Cafaro Sells 292 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 292 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $19,169.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,214,876.75. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ventas Stock Up 0.5%

Ventas stock opened at $65.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 198.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.79 and a 1-year high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 1.36%. Ventas’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 581.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VTR. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $9,573,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,166 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 201,422 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,862,000 after buying an additional 66,619 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in Ventas by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 188,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,075,000 after buying an additional 23,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Ventas by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 60,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,538,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.90.

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.