Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Cuts Position in UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its holdings in shares of UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,111 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in UDR were worth $8,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in UDR by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UDR by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of UDR by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 17,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in UDR by 62.7% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in UDR by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of UDR from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of UDR from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of UDR from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on UDR from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on UDR from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.12.

Insider Transactions at UDR

In related news, CEO Thomas W. Toomey sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $1,068,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 824,716 shares in the company, valued at $35,256,609. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.73% of the company’s stock.

UDR Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE UDR opened at $45.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 5.91 and a current ratio of 5.61. UDR, Inc. has a one year low of $35.14 and a one year high of $47.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.04 billion, a PE ratio of 181.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.88.

UDR (NYSE:UDR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.53. UDR had a return on equity of 2.65% and a net margin of 5.36%. On average, equities analysts forecast that UDR, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

UDR Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. This is a boost from UDR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. UDR’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 688.00%.

UDR Profile

UDR, Inc (NYSE: UDR), an S&P 500 company, is a leading multifamily real estate investment trust with a demonstrated performance history of delivering superior and dependable returns by successfully managing, buying, selling, developing and redeveloping attractive real estate communities in targeted U.S.