E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Buys 750 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the 3rd 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 purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings 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 valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

NYSE:AVB opened at $224.27 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.37 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $221.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.97.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. As a group, equities analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. The trade was a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.