Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Reduces Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. decreased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVB. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 12.0% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 16,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after buying an additional 1,773 shares during the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 1st quarter worth approximately $393,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 215,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,230,000 after purchasing an additional 18,282 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 77.5% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 6,982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 3,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 988,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,174,000 after purchasing an additional 5,123 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $201.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $28.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.88.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.86% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $744.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $240.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,859.74. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total value of $1,222,708.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.