Axa S.A. Trims Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

AXA S.A. lowered its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269,412 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 76,780 shares during the period. AXA S.A. owned about 0.19% of AvalonBay Communities worth $59,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter valued at $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,133,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,698 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,009,781,000 after purchasing an additional 27,629 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $810,470,000 after purchasing an additional 107,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVB. Truist Financial upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut AvalonBay Communities from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.57.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock traded down $2.05 on Tuesday, reaching $207.97. The company had a trading volume of 590,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 693,668. The firm has a market cap of $29.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $208.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.98. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $180.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $744.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.17%.

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.