Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,896 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 258 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted 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 valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 368.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other AvalonBay Communities 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 transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays started coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.53.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 2.6 %

AvalonBay Communities stock traded up $5.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $216.20. The company had a trading volume of 583,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,607. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.37 and a 12 month high of $239.29. The company has a market capitalization of $30.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $225.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

AvalonBay Communities Company 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.