Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Price Target Raised to $75.00 at Morgan Stanley

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

VTR has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.40.

Ventas Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $67.76 on Friday. Ventas has a 52-week low of $56.68 and a 52-week high of $71.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.58, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.75% and a net margin of 3.61%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 14,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.60, for a total value of $967,796.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,157,592. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,429.50. The trade was a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 376,932 shares of company stock valued at $24,716,734 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 4.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,796,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,533,937,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854,751 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ventas by 9.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 32,347,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,224,203,000 after buying an additional 2,811,241 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Ventas by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,998,629 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,781,267,000 after buying an additional 1,388,678 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ventas by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,226,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $769,061,000 after buying an additional 574,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resolution Capital Ltd raised its position in Ventas by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 7,889,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $542,506,000 after buying an additional 751,587 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.