Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE – Get Rating) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 122,227 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,173 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities were worth $17,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,841 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,730 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group boosted its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 10.7% during the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 880 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARE. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $180.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $155.00 to $144.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $162.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $176.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $168.25.

Insider Activity at Alexandria Real Estate Equities

In other news, Director Hunter Kass sold 3,803 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total value of $636,812.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 87,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,710,482.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alexandria Real Estate Equities news, EVP Marc E. Binda sold 3,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.21, for a total transaction of $551,458.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,203,906.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hunter Kass sold 3,803 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $636,812.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,850 shares in the company, valued at $14,710,482.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,101 shares of company stock valued at $2,700,271 in the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ARE opened at $120.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.94 and a 12-month high of $191.40. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $131.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.28.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($1.71). The business had revenue of $700.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $686.70 million. Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a net margin of 28.01% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were given a dividend of $1.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.84%.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities

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Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc engages in the business of providing space for lease. The firm is also an owner, operator, and developer of life science, agrotechnology, and technology campuses in Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ARE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE – Get Rating).

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