AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group reduced its AvalonBay stake by 1.3%, selling 9,914 shares and now holds 729,002 shares (about 0.51% of the company) valued at roughly $132.18 million.
• Several brokers have trimmed price targets recently and the stock's consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $197.
• AvalonBay raised its quarterly dividend to $1.78 (annualized $7.12), representing a 4.2% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 86.94%.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 729,002 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 9,914 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.51% of AvalonBay Communities worth $132,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,537,966 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,858,788,000 after acquiring an additional 92,467 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,215,821 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $814,376,000 after acquiring an additional 249,171 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,982,468 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $576,123,000 after acquiring an additional 100,212 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 76.0% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,355,838 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $455,077,000 after buying an additional 1,017,286 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,075,371 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $400,901,000 after buying an additional 26,736 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AVB shares. Barclays dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $217.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $197.00.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:AVB opened at $169.45 on Tuesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.10 and a 1 year high of $213.34. The stock has a market cap of $23.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $171.72 and a 200-day moving average of $177.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.The company had revenue of $767.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $766.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.94%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc NYSE: AVB is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay's core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay's operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.