AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Stake Lessened by Tobam

Tobam trimmed its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. Tobam’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total transaction of $528,576.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 111,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,051,508.08. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVB. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned 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 $234.33.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $220.23 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $169.37 and a one year high of $239.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $220.79 and its 200-day moving average is $221.98. 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 capitalization of $31.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.99.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

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

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.