Portfolio Design Labs LLC Has $4.92 Million Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 27.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,747 shares during the quarter. AvalonBay Communities comprises about 1.0% of Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $4,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after buying an additional 55,588 shares during the period. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter worth about $1,014,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14,180 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,983,000 after purchasing an additional 108,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,837,000 after purchasing an additional 11,064 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.73.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AVB opened at $219.01 on Wednesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.37 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $220.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.38.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. Equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.75 dividend. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.23%.

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.