Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,537,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,858,788,000 after purchasing an additional 92,467 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth about $1,394,635,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,159,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $935,551,000 after acquiring an additional 944,129 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,497,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,360,000 after purchasing an additional 383,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,151,217 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $750,042,000 after purchasing an additional 228,244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $187.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $203.00 target price (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $195.13.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.3%

AVB stock opened at $179.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.78. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $209.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.63.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.47). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 37.21%.The firm had revenue of $770.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $768.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $1.78 dividend. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.19%.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc (NYSE: AVB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay’s core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay’s operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.