AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Sold by Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University cut its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 19.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,202 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,948 shares during the period. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter valued at $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,133,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,698 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $810,470,000 after acquiring an additional 107,655 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $688,527,000 after acquiring an additional 639,402 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,642,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $581,324,000 after acquiring an additional 935,770 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.86.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.1%

AVB stock opened at $206.41 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The firm has a market cap of $29.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.86% and a return on equity of 9.65%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.17%.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total value of $1,245,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,859.74. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,288.39. This trade represents a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.