Strategic Blueprint LLC Invests $382,000 in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Strategic Blueprint LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,737 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $382,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after buying an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $805,113,000 after purchasing an additional 27,988 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,240,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $504,658,000 after purchasing an additional 78,800 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $386,315,000 after buying an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AVB opened at $221.51 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.37 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $222.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. The firm had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.02%.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. This represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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 decreased their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho upgraded 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

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.