Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Ventas (NYSE:VTR)

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Ventas (NYSE:VTR) in a report issued on Thursday,RTT News reports. They currently have a $75.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com cut Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.67.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $58.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a PE ratio of -345.63, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.36. Ventas has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $67.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.33.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is -1,058.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 121,248 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total transaction of $8,022,980.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,291,063.89. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,710,426,000 after purchasing an additional 581,870 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,364,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,498,385,000 after buying an additional 982,795 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 2.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,411,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $665,559,000 after buying an additional 245,922 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,931,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $304,047,000 after acquiring an additional 96,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,420,322 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $347,605,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,408 shares in the last quarter. 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.