AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Stock Position Reduced by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 33,552 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.06% of AvalonBay Communities worth $18,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 554,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $121,927,000 after buying an additional 188,906 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,153,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $23,513,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AVB opened at $213.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. On average, equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

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.