UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Purchases 2,771 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $11,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 14,180 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,918,000 after buying an additional 4,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AVB opened at $213.18 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.58. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The company has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its earnings results 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%. Research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. 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 presently 92.23%.

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.