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

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

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.00.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $63.67 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.94. 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 P/E ratio of 335.13, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 $1,750,467.04. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 311,481 shares of company stock worth $21,385,983 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $340,282,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $359,113,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ventas by 9.5% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 2,811,241 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ventas by 3.7% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 2,440,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Ventas by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $365,563,000 after buying an additional 2,347,705 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company's stock.

Ventas Company Profile

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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