AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Sold by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,548 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 159 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. American Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter worth about $989,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter worth about $491,000. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the first quarter. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. now owns 15,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,412,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter worth about $574,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 19.0% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after buying an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,623,288.39. This represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,859.74. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $240.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. 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 $234.43.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $184.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $689.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.08 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 38.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.77 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 86.21%.

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.