Advisor Resource Council Acquires Shares of 2,425 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,425 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $520,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proathlete Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1,666.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AVB. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.86.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,288.39. This represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total transaction of $1,245,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. This trade represents 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 owned by corporate insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB traded down $1.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $206.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,351,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,441. The business has a fifty day moving average of $205.50 and a 200 day moving average of $212.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $29.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.40 and a 12 month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.86% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $693.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.70 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is currently 87.17%.

AvalonBay Communities 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.