Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $87.87 and last traded at $86.7810, with a volume of 448779 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ventas from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.87.

Ventas Stock Down 0.1%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $41.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 159.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.77.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of ($1,229.71) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 2.09% and a net margin of 4.31%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. Ventas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.780-3.880 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 355.56%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 10,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.66, for a total value of $801,606.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,114,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,515,880.44. The trade was a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 35,532 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $3,020,220.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 72,755 shares in the company, valued at $6,184,175. The trade was a 32.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 86,106 shares of company stock worth $6,931,397 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ventas by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,948,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,876,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,349,176 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 29,701,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,078,794,000 after purchasing an additional 387,495 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Ventas by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,662,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,309,234,000 after purchasing an additional 735,620 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ventas by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,988,943 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,001,447,000 after buying an additional 475,633 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ventas by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,176,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $710,060,000 after buying an additional 2,000,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

About Ventas

Ventas, Inc (NYSE: VTR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in healthcare-related real estate. The company acquires, owns and manages a diversified portfolio of properties serving the healthcare continuum, including senior housing communities, skilled nursing facilities, medical office buildings, life science and research centers, and other properties leased to healthcare providers and operators. Ventas generates revenue through long-term leases, property management and selective development activities focused on meeting the real estate needs of the healthcare sector.

Ventas’ business model combines property ownership with active asset management and capital markets activity.