Wambolt & Associates LLC Lowers Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Wambolt & Associates LLC reduced its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 850 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14,180 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,918,000 after purchasing an additional 4,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,837,000 after buying an additional 11,064 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $214.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Company 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.