DAVENPORT & Co LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lowered its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $805,113,000 after purchasing an additional 27,988 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,240,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $504,658,000 after purchasing an additional 78,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. This represents a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Nine 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.33.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:AVB opened at $220.23 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $220.50 and a 200-day moving average of $222.15. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.37 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. Analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.53 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 89.59%.

AvalonBay Communities Company 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.