AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Purchased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,998 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $5,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,494,872 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $581,960,000. State Street Corp raised 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 buying an additional 196,938 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,983,000 after buying an additional 108,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 259,531 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,459,000 after buying an additional 91,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.73.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AVB traded down $1.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $217.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 405,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,744. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.37 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $220.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.47. The company has a market capitalization of $30.99 billion, a PE ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.53 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is presently 89.59%.

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.