Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Sells $27,548.00 in Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This trade represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Ventas Stock Performance

Ventas stock opened at $70.50 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.81 and a 200-day moving average of $62.51. Ventas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $30.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 371.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 7.9% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 332,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,310,000 after buying an additional 24,300 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in Ventas by 480.7% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 26,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 21,700 shares during the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC boosted its holdings in Ventas by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,908,000 after acquiring an additional 121,193 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ventas by 5.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,904,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $314,499,000 after acquiring an additional 231,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Ventas by 3.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 302,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,428,000 after acquiring an additional 10,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VTR. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.14.

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.