Amundi Sells 31,124 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Amundi lowered its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 373,873 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 31,124 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.26% of AvalonBay Communities worth $79,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.7% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.4 %

AVB stock opened at $213.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.40 and a 12 month high of $239.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $218.61 and its 200 day moving average is $223.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. On average, research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

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.