AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Acquired by Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,192 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:AVB opened at $220.20 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $223.01 and a 200-day moving average of $221.26. The firm has a market cap of $31.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.37 and a twelve month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

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 3.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 93.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. 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. Mizuho upgraded 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the company’s 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 completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.