AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 171 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVB. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 15,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,488,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,652 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 30,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB stock opened at $207.45 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.23%.

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.