AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• AvalonBay Communities has been upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an "equal weight" rating to "overweight," with a new price target of $225.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.34% from its previous close.
• Other analysts have lowered their price targets for AvalonBay, with Evercore ISI decreasing its target from $216.00 to $212.00 and UBS cutting its target from $238.00 to $216.00, reflecting a more cautious outlook.
• Currently, 92.61% of AvalonBay's stock is owned by institutional investors, highlighting strong institutional interest in the company.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $225.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price suggests a potential upside of 20.34% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $212.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $255.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $227.36.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $186.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $26.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.94. AvalonBay Communities has a fifty-two week low of $180.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $689.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.08 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 38.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total value of $1,222,708.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,623,288.39. This represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total value of $1,245,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 64.1% in the 2nd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 137,771 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,036,000 after purchasing an additional 53,826 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,494 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,461,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,126 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 310,736 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $63,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.