Debra Cafaro Sells 317,258 Shares of Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Debra Cafaro sold 317,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.24, for a total value of $23,553,233.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,056,396.80. This represents a 21.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ventas Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of VTR opened at $74.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $34.07 billion, a PE ratio of 144.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.30 and a 200 day moving average of $66.86. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.68 and a 52-week high of $75.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 2.10% and a net margin of 4.28%.Ventas’s revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Ventas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.450-3.480 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 369.23%.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the second quarter valued at about $344,740,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the first quarter valued at about $359,113,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 4.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,796,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,533,937,000 after acquiring an additional 2,854,751 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 9.5% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 2,811,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 451.9% in the second quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,316,344 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $146,277,000 after acquiring an additional 1,896,627 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ventas from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Ventas from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ventas from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.08.

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.