Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 616 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $24,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth about $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,133,328,000 after buying an additional 1,336,698 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,642,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $581,324,000 after buying an additional 935,770 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,488,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $547,500,000 after buying an additional 828,009 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $688,527,000 after buying an additional 639,402 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

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

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $206.92 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $29.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29.

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

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 87.17%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.