Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 592 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.3% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 13,335 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 251,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,997,000 after purchasing an additional 5,275 shares during the period. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 1st quarter valued at about $196,000. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,279,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $203.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $205.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.42. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $180.40 and a 1-year high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $28.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.86.

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

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 87.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.86.

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.