Insider Selling: Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Sells $80,318.88 in Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 1,224 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.62, for a total value of $80,318.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,180,505.90. This trade represents a 0.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $65.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.82 and a 200 day moving average of $64.41. The company has a market capitalization of $29.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 199.39, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.87. Ventas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.79 and a 12 month high of $71.36. 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 (NYSE:VTR) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 1.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 581.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth $340,282,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter valued at about $359,113,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 32,347,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,224,203,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811,241 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,941,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,740,422,000 after buying an additional 2,440,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $365,563,000 after buying an additional 2,347,705 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ventas

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.