AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,739,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 60,674 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of AvalonBay Communities worth $4,392,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,394,225,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 70.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,593,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $527,823,000 after buying an additional 1,069,793 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 77.1% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,338,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $272,395,000 after buying an additional 582,724 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 23.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,816,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $573,091,000 after acquiring an additional 530,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,215,821 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $814,376,000 after acquiring an additional 249,171 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVB. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $187.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $222.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $200.91.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.8%

AVB opened at $177.62 on Wednesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.73 and a 12-month high of $230.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $178.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.57% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The company had revenue of $767.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.85%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc (NYSE: AVB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay’s core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay’s operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.