Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 35.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter worth about $1,014,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 14,180 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,983,000 after acquiring an additional 108,371 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,837,000 after acquiring an additional 11,064 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In related 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 directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AVB shares. Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut 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 increased their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $215.27 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $222.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.37 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The company has a market capitalization of $30.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99.

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

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s 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.