Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Buys 20,619 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 37.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,354 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 20,619 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned about 0.05% of AvalonBay Communities worth $16,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AVB. State Street Corp grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 27,629 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $914,627,000 after buying an additional 55,588 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $805,113,000 after buying an additional 27,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,266,701 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $498,606,000 after buying an additional 26,265 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $212.61. 816,481 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 628,718. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day moving average is $217.86 and its 200-day moving average is $222.78.

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 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AVB. Zelman & Associates raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $238.64.

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.