Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $65.63.

VTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday.

Ventas Stock Down 0.8 %

VTR stock opened at $61.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.54. Ventas has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $67.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -362.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.36.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,058.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 6,004 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total value of $396,924.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at $65,231,860.87. This trade represents a 0.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $389,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 90,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,900,767.05. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,252 shares of company stock valued at $8,809,845 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ventas in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Ventas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

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.