Robert F. Probst Sells 17,374 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) CFO Robert F. Probst sold 17,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.22, for a total transaction of $1,133,132.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 168,364 shares in the company, valued at $10,980,700.08. This represents a 9.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $64.25. The company had a trading volume of 5,071,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,761,980. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $29.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 338.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.93. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.06 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is currently 581.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 3.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,941,561 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,740,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,551 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 9.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 32,347,333 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,224,203,000 after purchasing an additional 2,811,241 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $643,207,000 after purchasing an additional 537,253 shares during the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 10.5% during the first quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 7,889,848 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $542,506,000 after purchasing an additional 751,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 4.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,414,404 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $441,056,000 after purchasing an additional 281,232 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Argus set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.00.

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.