Analysts Set Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Price Target at $72.20

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.90.

VTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 912,813 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew 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 worth $1,710,426,000 after buying an additional 581,870 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,364,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,498,385,000 after acquiring an additional 982,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ventas by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,207,000 after acquiring an additional 537,253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Up 2.0 %

VTR stock opened at $68.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.15. Ventas has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $71.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a PE ratio of 358.87, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 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 analysts predict that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

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.