Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,094,419 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 23,459 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.47% of AvalonBay Communities worth $460,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,260 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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. West Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 14,180 shares during the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,918,000 after acquiring an additional 4,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 344,139 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $75,701,000 after acquiring an additional 42,416 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AVB. Zelman & Associates raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.47.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.3 %

AVB traded up $0.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $207.01. 536,261 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 759,194. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $210.26 and a 200 day moving average of $218.74. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.40 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

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.