AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Director Sells $5,532,538.59 in Stock

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at $20,367,689.33. The trade was a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB stock opened at $229.41 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $226.26 and a 200 day moving average of $212.16. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $166.60 and a 52 week high of $236.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Eleven research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 24.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 774.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2.5% during the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 3,811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 14.4% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 32,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after buying an additional 4,138 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 9.4% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 177,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,899,000 after buying an additional 15,236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.