Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,802 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JLP Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth about $3,295,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 43,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,068,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. LDR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. LDR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,504 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 3,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth about $308,000. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total transaction of $928,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVB. Barclays raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $194.00 to $204.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $197.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.78.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $182.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.45 and a 1 year high of $198.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $180.96 and its 200-day moving average is $177.85.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($1.03). The business had revenue of $704.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $701.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 7.98%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.82%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.