Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 188 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 79,279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 188 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $17,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake 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 worth $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 worth $51,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 59.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AVB. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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 research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report 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 company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

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 shares were 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 $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AVB opened at $220.46 on Tuesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.37 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The company has a market capitalization of $31.36 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $221.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. The firm had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

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.