Wedbush Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Ventas (NYSE:VTR)

Ventas (NYSE:VTR)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by research analysts at Wedbush in a report released on Thursday,RTT News reports. They currently have a $75.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.64% from the company’s previous close.

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

Ventas Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE VTR opened at $58.76 on Thursday. Ventas has a 12 month low of $41.45 and a 12 month high of $67.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a PE ratio of -345.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.36 and its 200 day moving average is $59.27.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 121,248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at $65,291,063.89. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ventas by 11.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,252,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,070,000 after purchasing an additional 128,945 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ventas by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Ventas by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 32,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after acquiring an additional 7,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Ventas by 3.0% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 202,965 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,016,000 after purchasing an additional 5,870 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.