Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Rating Increased to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $72.00 price target on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their prior price target of $70.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target indicates a potential upside of 13.65% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Argus set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE VTR traded down $0.16 on Monday, hitting $63.35. 3,653,119 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,869,137. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Ventas has a 1-year low of $49.65 and a 1-year high of $71.36. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $64.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.59 billion, a PE ratio of 191.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.89.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 1.36%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,750,467.04. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,429.50. The trade was a 16.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 165,586 shares of company stock valued at $10,997,929. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $4,740,422,000 after buying an additional 2,440,551 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 worth $2,224,203,000 after buying an additional 2,811,241 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $643,207,000 after buying an additional 537,253 shares in the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd grew its holdings 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 worth $542,506,000 after buying an additional 751,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings 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 worth $441,056,000 after buying an additional 281,232 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.