Blue Trust Inc. Raises Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 35.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 949 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter worth $581,960,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 958.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 172,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,882,000 after buying an additional 156,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth $29,256,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

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 transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the sale, the director now owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $215.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.37 and a 1-year high of $239.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.51.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.02%.

AvalonBay Communities 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.