Swiss National Bank Sells 20,300 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 401,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 20,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $88,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AVB. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% during 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 buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 55,588 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14,180 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,918,000 after purchasing an additional 4,747 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,983,000 after purchasing an additional 108,371 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho raised 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. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $209.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. 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 price is $218.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.