Prudential Financial Inc. Has $18.25 Million Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 82,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 33,552 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $18,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVB. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised their target price 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.6 %

AVB opened at $213.83 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The company has a market cap of $30.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. 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.