Vestcor Inc Sells 557 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Vestcor Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 557 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $9,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 80,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 344,833 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $75,853,000 after purchasing an additional 5,238 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,299,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 828,009 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $223.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $240.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.07.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB stock opened at $203.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $203.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.01. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $180.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $28.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 38.86%. The business had revenue of $693.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.61 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.17%.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total value of $1,245,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,728,859.74. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,623,288.39. This trade represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.