Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $746,000 Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,049 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 129.7% in the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 80,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,624,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth $10,203,000. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $213.18 on Friday. 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 $30.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.58.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released 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%. Analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 dividend yield of 3.28%. 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.