Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $81.09 and last traded at $80.9990, with a volume of 391840 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VTR. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ventas from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Ventas from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ventas in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.40.

Ventas Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.10 and a 200-day moving average of $68.78. The stock has a market cap of $37.87 billion, a PE ratio of 155.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.78.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. Ventas had a return on equity of 2.05% and a net margin of 4.28%.The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Ventas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.450-3.480 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 369.23%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 317,258 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.24, for a total value of $23,553,233.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,056,396.80. The trade was a 21.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,924 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 112,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,442,300. This trade represents a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 688,590 shares of company stock worth $50,754,668 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 2.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,598,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,151,182,000 after buying an additional 1,802,515 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ventas by 9.5% during the 1st 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. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ventas by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,927,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,038,176,000 after acquiring an additional 928,386 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ventas by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,226,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $769,061,000 after acquiring an additional 574,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resolution Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 10.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 751,587 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.