Vert Asset Management LLC Buys 5,350 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Vert Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 5,350 shares during the quarter. AvalonBay Communities accounts for 4.8% of Vert Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Vert Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $13,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $1,014,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings 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 grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% during the third 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 AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AVB. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 2.5 %

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $220.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.37 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $223.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.26. The firm has a market cap of $31.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.02%.

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.