Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Has $146,000 Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. trimmed its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. 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. West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 14,180 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,918,000 after buying an additional 4,747 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,837,000 after purchasing an additional 11,064 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AVB. Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $209.49 on Monday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.40 and a 12 month 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $217.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.87. The company has a market cap of $29.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.