AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank lowered its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1,877.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AVB. Truist Financial upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $226.88.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total value of $528,576.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 111,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,051,508.08. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $231.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.89. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.37 and a twelve month high of $236.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

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.