Insider Selling: Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) CEO Sells 3,784 Shares of Stock

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

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of VTR stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -293.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Ventas, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.33 and a fifty-two week high of $57.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.16.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative net margin of 3.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ventas by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ventas in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in Ventas in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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 target price on Ventas from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Ventas from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.