Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 8,593 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,593 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $4,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth about $3,701,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 958.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 172,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,882,000 after purchasing an additional 156,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 84,068 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 2.2 %

AVB stock opened at $219.59 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.37 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The company has a market capitalization of $31.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) 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). The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $26,051,508.08. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.