Insider Selling: Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Sells 4,375 Shares of Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 4,375 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.82, for a total value of $287,962.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,409,644.90. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ventas Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:VTR traded up $0.43 on Friday, reaching $65.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,416,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,933,643. Ventas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.79 and a 12-month high of $71.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $29.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 199.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.45.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.36% and a net margin of 2.80%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Ventas's payout ratio is 581.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VTR. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $276,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Ventas in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 40.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,773 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 10,091 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the first quarter worth approximately $579,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the first quarter worth approximately $879,000. 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.