National Pension Service Has $43.48 Million Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

National Pension Service reduced its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 197,669 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 14,740 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.14% of AvalonBay Communities worth $43,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,260 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $914,627,000 after acquiring an additional 55,588 shares during the period. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,014,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14,180 shares during the period. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its position in 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 worth $4,918,000 after purchasing an additional 4,747 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AVB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.9 %

AVB stock traded down $4.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $223.83. 347,970 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 618,242. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The stock's fifty day moving average is $218.92 and its 200-day moving average is $223.59. The company has a market cap of $31.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

AvalonBay Communities Company 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.