AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Sold by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,912 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,227 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total transaction of $528,576.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 111,436 shares in the company, valued at $26,051,508.08. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.3 %

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $214.48 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.37 and a 12 month high of $239.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.51 billion, a PE ratio of 29.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.94.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

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.