Whittier Trust Co. Reduces Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Whittier Trust Co. lowered its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,669 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 202 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $587,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 554,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $121,927,000 after purchasing an additional 188,906 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth about $35,153,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,513,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Seven 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, AvalonBay Communities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.9 %

AVB opened at $209.49 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $177.40 and a 12-month high of $239.29. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $29.80 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $217.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.90.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 92.23%.

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.