New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 100,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,083 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $22,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 41,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 58,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,090,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AVB opened at $217.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.85 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $219.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.49.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 89.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.73.

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.