Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $125.00 to $114.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.60.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Price Performance

NYSE ARE traded up $0.36 on Monday, reaching $99.52. 1,044,163 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,029,683. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a 12 month low of $93.25 and a 12 month high of $130.14. The company has a market cap of $17.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) last announced 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, research analysts predict that Alexandria Real Estate Equities will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Trading of Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARE. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,605,426,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 1.1% during the third 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 212.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,265,880 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $806,337,000 after purchasing an additional 5,624,163 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,135,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $402,450,000 after purchasing an additional 96,771 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $326,959,000. 96.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Company 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.