Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Sells 340 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth about $80,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 139.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $202.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Argus raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $197.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $202.83.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB opened at $198.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.45 and a fifty-two week high of $200.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.37 and a 200 day moving average of $181.06.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($1.42). The firm had revenue of $712.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $706.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 34.05%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.87 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 101.19%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.