Sterling Investment Management LLC Sells 1,597 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Sterling Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVBFree Report) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,441 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,597 shares during the quarter. AvalonBay Communities makes up about 1.3% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 16.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 109.7% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 32,987 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,825,000 after acquiring an additional 17,257 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.9% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.3% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 32,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 approximately $26,051,508.08. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays began coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.53.

Get Our Latest Report on AVB

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.5 %

AVB stock opened at $219.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.99. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.37 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $224.19 and a 200-day moving average of $220.93. 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 (NYSE:AVBGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 93.02%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB)

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