Legal & General Group Plc Sells 253,786 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,192,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 253,786 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $482,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 12.1% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 18,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,236,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 76,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,239,000 after purchasing an additional 7,195 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at $922,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.40.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $188.85 on Tuesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $216.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.27. The company has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts anticipate 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. 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 3.71%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

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.