Sterling Investment Management LLC Has $1.28 Million Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Sterling Investment Management LLC decreased its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 20.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,953 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,488 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AVB. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,575 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at about $309,000. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,918,000 after purchasing an additional 4,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $223.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $237.86.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AVB stock opened at $206.40 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $203.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.85. The company has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $180.40 and a 1-year high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The firm had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.17%.

AvalonBay Communities 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.