Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mechanics Bank Trust Department boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 17,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 5,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.7 %

AVB opened at $221.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.45 and a 12 month high of $221.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $207.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.05.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.93). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 29.61%. The company had revenue of $726.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $718.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $218.00 to $216.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.12.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In related news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total transaction of $414,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $908,026.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,780,506.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total value of $414,340.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $908,026.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.