AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC lowered its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 27.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 215,945 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 82,870 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.15% of AvalonBay Communities worth $47,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth $1,499,050,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,009,781,000 after purchasing an additional 27,629 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $810,470,000 after purchasing an additional 107,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,488,975 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $547,500,000 after buying an additional 828,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB traded up $1.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $208.38. 158,986 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 693,634. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.82. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The firm has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $1.75 dividend. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.47.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.