SG Americas Securities LLC Has $168,000 Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 99.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 763 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 171,855 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $168,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AVB. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during 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 buying an additional 196,938 shares during the last quarter. 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $805,113,000 after purchasing an additional 27,988 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% during 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 during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.73.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE AVB traded up $2.24 on Thursday, hitting $220.04. The stock had a trading volume of 401,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 631,530. The company's 50-day moving average is $219.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.44. The stock has a market cap of $31.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $172.16 and a one year high of $239.29.

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 (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%. On average, analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.59%.

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.