Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Debra A. Cafaro Sells 388 Shares

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

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR traded down $0.42 on Tuesday, hitting $69.95. The company had a trading volume of 3,463,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,369,676. The company has a market cap of $30.58 billion, a PE ratio of 368.15, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.58 and a 200 day moving average of $62.46. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after purchasing an additional 912,813 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ventas by 2.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ventas by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,710,426,000 after buying an additional 581,870 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 982,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 5.2% during 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 buying an additional 537,253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.