Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,840 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,544 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.14% of Alexandria Real Estate Equities worth $23,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the third quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 144.0% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 305 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 595 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ARE. 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced 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 note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $121.30.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARE traded up $3.79 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $100.97. 1,743,498 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,363,064. The stock has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.10, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $97.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.25 and a 12-month high of $130.14.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 1.43% and a net margin of 10.36%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.23%. This is an increase 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 authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 2.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.