West Coast Financial LLC Sells 84 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

West Coast Financial LLC cut its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVB. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 300,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,075,000 after purchasing an additional 7,939 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 17,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,622,000 after purchasing an additional 6,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth about $212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $215.70 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.37 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.51, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.99.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million during 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 period last year, the company earned $2.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.53.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.