Timothy J. Naughton Sells 23,697 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Stock

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. The trade was a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $227.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $226.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.05. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $166.60 and a 12 month high of $236.26.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The company had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,240,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $504,658,000 after acquiring an additional 78,800 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,074,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $429,145,000 after buying an additional 13,631 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 14.4% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,980,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $367,534,000 after purchasing an additional 249,400 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.5% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,847,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $342,824,000 after acquiring an additional 8,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $386,315,000 after buying an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $226.88.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.