Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on VTR. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.00.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $63.67 on Thursday. Ventas has a 1 year low of $46.66 and a 1 year high of $71.36. The company has a market cap of $28.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 335.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.85 and a 200-day moving average of $63.94.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $93,025.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,750,467.04. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 311,481 shares of company stock worth $21,385,983. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Presima Securities ULC raised its holdings in Ventas by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $25,908,000 after buying an additional 121,193 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Ventas by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 39,760 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,341,000 after buying an additional 12,969 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ventas by 726.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 4,630 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ventas by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,028,015 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $296,100,000 after buying an additional 123,937 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ventas by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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