Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Given New $75.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) had its price target increased by Mizuho from $68.00 to $75.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.04% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $68.78 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.96. Ventas has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 362.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. On average, analysts predict that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $2,852,589.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at $78,622,918.44. This trade represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ventas by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,916,244,000 after acquiring an additional 912,813 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ventas by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after purchasing an additional 599,600 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ventas by 2.2% during 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 buying an additional 581,870 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 4.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,207,000 after buying an additional 537,253 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.