Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 720,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 175,365 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of AvalonBay Communities worth $158,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% during the third quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at $20,367,689.33. The trade was a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:AVB opened at $220.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $31.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.99. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.37 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.98.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. Analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.33.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store, Other Stabilized, and Development or Redevelopment. The Same Store segment refers to the operating communities that were owned and had stabilized occupancy.