Peter J. Bulgarelli Sells 3,784 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Stock

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total value of $209,028.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,761,255.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ventas Stock Performance

Ventas stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $55.67. 3,182,099 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,280,855. Ventas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.33 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -293.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.16.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently -947.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Ventas by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 91,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Ventas by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Ventas by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Ventas by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 110,590 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ventas by 4,831.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 231,856 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,556,000 after purchasing an additional 227,154 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ventas from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Ventas from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Ventas from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.92.

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.