New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 189,343 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,915 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $35,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVB. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,298,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $394,690,000 after purchasing an additional 341,332 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2,140.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 213,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,347,000 after acquiring an additional 204,186 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 118.4% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 318,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,618,000 after acquiring an additional 172,418 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 6.5% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,496,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $428,778,000 after acquiring an additional 151,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 5.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,278,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $391,286,000 after acquiring an additional 126,288 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total value of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,985.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,330.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $197.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $206.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $194.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.78.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:AVB opened at $191.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.21, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.92. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.45 and a 1-year high of $198.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $182.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($1.03). The business had revenue of $704.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 33.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 103.82%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.