Forsta AP Fonden Reduces Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $10,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 worth $914,627,000 after acquiring an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% in the third 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. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $504,658,000 after acquiring an additional 78,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during 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. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other AvalonBay Communities 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 111,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,051,508.08. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB opened at $219.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $222.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.46. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.37 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AVB shares. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.