AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Sold by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lowered its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 383 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proathlete Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1,666.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 12,200.0% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $240.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.79.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the company’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 transaction 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 approximately $4,728,859.74. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total value of $1,222,708.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,617 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $182.70 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $26.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $202.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.11.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $689.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company earned $2.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued 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 dividend yield of 3.8%. 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.