AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Bought by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 119,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $25,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 26.6% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 25.9% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 85,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,327,000 after purchasing an additional 17,580 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.4% during the first quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 59,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.8% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 10.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 1.5%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $198.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $28.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $203.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $209.05. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29.

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

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 87.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $240.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.07.

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.