Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Price Target Raised to $75.00 at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised its price target for Ventas (NYSE: VTR) from $70.00 to $75.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.95% from its current stock price.
• Ventas reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.87, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, up 18.3% year-over-year.
• Insider trading saw significant selling, with key executives reducing their shareholdings, raising concerns, as 0.80% of the stock is now owned by insiders.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.40.

Ventas Stock Performance

Ventas stock traded up $0.23 on Friday, hitting $67.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,265,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,667,642. The firm has a market cap of $30.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.71. Ventas has a one year low of $56.68 and a one year high of $71.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 1.75%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 14,753 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.60, for a total transaction of $967,796.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,157,592. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. The trade was 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 376,932 shares of company stock worth $24,716,734 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at about $276,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 40.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at about $579,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at about $13,321,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.