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ssetmark Inc. increased its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to a recent SEC filing. The fund now owns 41,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, acquired through an additional 4,224 shares purchased during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities are valued at $4,089,000 as per its most recent SEC filing.

    Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made significant changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake by 350% in the third quarter, owning 341,357 shares worth $40,536,000 after acquiring an additional 265,508 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings by 114.9% in the same period, now owning 435,416 shares valued at $51,706,000.

    KBC Group NV increased its stake by 315.9% in the third quarter, owning 169,350 shares worth $20,110,000 after acquiring an additional 128,634 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities in the third quarter valued at $14,319,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings by 1.1% in the same period, owning 10,585,038 shares worth $1,270,634,000.

    Alexandria Real Estate Equities' stock opened at $102.50 on Friday, with a market cap of $17.74 billion and a P/E ratio of 56.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.21. In its latest earnings report, the real estate investment trust reported $2.39 earnings per share, beating analysts' estimates.

    The firm also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.32 per share, which will be paid on April 15th to investors of record on March 31st. This represents an annualized dividend yield of 5.15%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has initiated a stock repurchase program that permits the company to purchase up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases.

    Analysts have issued mixed ratings for the stock, with ten analysts rating it as "hold" and two rating it as "buy". The average price target is $121.30.