First Bank & Trust Takes $1.05 Million Position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE)

First Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,794 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,053,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARE. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 118,454 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,555,000 after purchasing an additional 32,454 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 354.0% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 36,164 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,528,000 after purchasing an additional 28,199 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 677.7% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,810 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.54% of the company's stock.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Trading Up 1.6 %

ARE stock traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $97.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 550,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,337,546. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.25 and a 1 year high of $130.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.93, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.44%. This is a boost from Alexandria Real Estate Equities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Alexandria Real Estate Equities's dividend payout ratio is 293.33%.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 2.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ARE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated 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 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $121.30.

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.