Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV cut its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 955 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities were worth $1,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,053,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 118,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,555,000 after acquiring an additional 32,454 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 354.0% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 36,164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,528,000 after purchasing an additional 28,199 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 677.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.54% of the company’s stock.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Stock Performance

ARE opened at $95.59 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.81. The stock has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.16. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.25 and a 1-year high of $130.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $1.48. Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a return on equity of 1.43% and a net margin of 10.36%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 2.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.32 per share. This is an increase from Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 293.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $133.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $125.00 to $114.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.30.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc (NYSE: ARE), an S&P 500 company, is a best-in-class, mission-driven life science REIT making a positive and lasting impact on the world. As the pioneer of the life science real estate niche since our founding in 1994, Alexandria is the preeminent and longest-tenured owner, operator, and developer of collaborative life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle.