Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC cut its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 496 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 1st quarter valued at $2,367,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 873 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. LBP AM SA increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 52,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 100,334 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 16,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. Mizuho cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $240.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $216.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.79.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $186.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $201.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.38. 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 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.02. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 38.91%. The company had revenue of $689.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 86.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

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.