Procyon Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 368.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. This represents a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AVB. Scotiabank cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.53.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE AVB opened at $217.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.99 billion, a PE ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $224.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.47. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.37 and a 12 month high of $239.29. 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 issued its 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). The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company earned $2.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.