New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 7,083 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 7,083 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.07% of AvalonBay Communities worth $22,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,097,971,000 after acquiring an additional 196,938 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 purchasing an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $805,113,000 after purchasing an additional 27,988 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,240,436 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $504,658,000 after purchasing an additional 78,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $386,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.3 %

AvalonBay Communities stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $217.41. The company had a trading volume of 330,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 634,914. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm's fifty day moving average is $219.26 and its 200-day moving average is $222.82. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.85 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. On average, research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is currently 89.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.47.

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.