Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,017 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 8,593 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $4,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVB. Creative Planning lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter valued at $3,701,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,932 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,517,000 after buying an additional 1,874 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 958.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 172,618 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,882,000 after buying an additional 156,316 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 84,068 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $18,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AVB. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $219.59 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.37 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $31.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 2.98 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 0.70. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $222.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.46.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total value of $528,576.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 111,436 shares in the company, valued at $26,051,508.08. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.