Brokerages Set Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Price Target at $72.90

Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.90.

VTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total value of $3,165,794.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at $81,413,086.70. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total value of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 116,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. This represents a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 165,586 shares of company stock worth $10,997,929 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ventas by 1,334.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Franchise Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of VTR stock traded down $0.45 on Thursday, hitting $62.89. 5,496,040 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,885,632. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 190.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.89. Ventas has a fifty-two week low of $50.38 and a fifty-two week high of $71.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.95 and a 200 day moving average of $63.92.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 1.36%. The firm's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Ventas's dividend payout ratio is currently 581.82%.

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.