Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 132 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth about $3,701,000. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 958.9% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 172,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,882,000 after purchasing an additional 156,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of 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. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $221.51 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.37 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.45.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its earnings results 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). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total transaction of $528,576.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 111,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,051,508.08. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective 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 lifted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

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.