Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CFO Robert F. Probst Sells 20,000 Shares

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total value of $1,177,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,207,444.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $59.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.51. The stock has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of -312.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.33. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $39.33 and a one year high of $59.50.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.74). The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative net margin of 3.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently -947.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $231,512,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the second quarter valued at $135,425,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in Ventas in the second quarter valued at $73,517,000. Waterfront Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $50,967,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ventas by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 7,806,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $345,667,000 after buying an additional 802,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

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.