Vanderbilt University Boosts Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Vanderbilt University raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,776 shares during the period. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $2,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Czech National Bank boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 21.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 16.9% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at about $29,256,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on AVB shares. Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Nine 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.com, AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $224.27 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.37 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $31.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $221.39 and a 200-day moving average of $221.97.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. As a group, analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 93.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently 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.