West Oak Capital LLC Raises Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 875.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,180 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AVB. Barclays began coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.53.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $211.07. 857,431 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 534,655. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $225.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.09. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.37 and a 1-year high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its 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). The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. This represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.