MQS Management LLC Takes $1.90 Million Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 8,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,895,000. AvalonBay Communities makes up 1.1% of MQS Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,133,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,698 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,642,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $581,324,000 after acquiring an additional 935,770 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,488,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $547,500,000 after acquiring an additional 828,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $688,527,000 after acquiring an additional 639,402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $223.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total transaction of $1,245,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:AVB opened at $201.81 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.24. The company has a market cap of $28.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.85. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $180.40 and a one year high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 38.86%. The firm had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 87.17%.

AvalonBay Communities 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.