75,961 Shares in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB Acquired by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 75,961 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $14,333,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth approximately $3,368,659,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 18,031.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 11,785,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $213,677,000 after purchasing an additional 11,720,150 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter valued at $1,394,635,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 15,065.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,801,071 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $326,552,000 after buying an additional 1,789,195 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,355,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $455,077,000 after buying an additional 1,017,286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays upped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.87.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $184.06 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.76. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $160.10 and a one year high of $198.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $187.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $777.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $772.37 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 33.33% and a return on equity of 8.58%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 116.34%.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc (NYSE: AVB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay’s core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay’s operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.