Norges Bank Purchases New Position in UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 29,335,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,273,442,000. Norges Bank owned about 8.89% of UDR as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of UDR by 7.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC raised its position in UDR by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 17,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at UDR

In other UDR 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 824,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,256,609. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.73% of the company’s stock.

UDR Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UDR opened at $44.33 on Thursday. UDR, Inc. has a one year low of $35.14 and a one year high of $47.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 5.61 and a quick ratio of 5.91. The company has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 177.30, a PEG ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.77.

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

UDR Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. This is a positive change from UDR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. UDR’s dividend payout ratio is currently 688.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on UDR. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on UDR from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on UDR from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Zelman & Associates reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of UDR in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised UDR from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of UDR from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.12.

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.