FIL Ltd Sells 3,926 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

FIL Ltd reduced its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,214 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,926 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $7,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,449,566 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $318,861,000 after buying an additional 170,952 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 84,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $18,477,000 after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at about $826,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,111 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 2,125 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.47.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AVB traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $200.38. 1,384,803 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 693,217. The business's 50-day moving average price is $212.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.50. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is 92.23%.

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.