Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) Shares Sold by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc lessened its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) by 90.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 173,528 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities were worth $1,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARE. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 350.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 341,357 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,536,000 after purchasing an additional 265,508 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 114.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 435,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,706,000 after acquiring an additional 232,817 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 315.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 169,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,110,000 after acquiring an additional 128,634 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,319,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,585,038 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,270,634,000 after acquiring an additional 112,864 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ARE shares. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.30.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Stock Performance

NYSE:ARE opened at $100.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.10, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.61. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.25 and a fifty-two week high of $130.14.

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

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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.23%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s dividend payout ratio is 293.33%.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 2.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Profile

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.