Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,233 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 4,459 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $10,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after buying an additional 196,938 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 valued at $914,627,000 after acquiring an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 27,988 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 78,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% in the third 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 during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.73.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $219.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 500,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 648,418. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $220.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.38. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.37 and a 12-month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is 89.59%.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company 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.