AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Holdings Trimmed by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. by 3.5%, now holding 81,105 shares valued at approximately $17.4 million.
• AvalonBay recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.75 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $7.00 with a dividend yield of 3.7%.
• AvalonBay Communities' stock is currently rated as a "Hold" by Wall Street analysts, with a consensus target price of $225.64.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,105 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,945 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.06% of AvalonBay Communities worth $17,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AVB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,133,328,000 after buying an additional 1,336,698 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter valued at about $280,226,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,642,743 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $581,324,000 after buying an additional 935,770 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 21,024.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 550,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $118,148,000 after buying an additional 547,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adelante Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1,186.4% during the fourth quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 400,444 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $88,086,000 after buying an additional 369,316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total transaction of $1,245,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,728,859.74. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,623,288.39. This trade represents a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $190.19 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $199.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.42. The company has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $689.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.08 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 38.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. Wall Street Zen raised AvalonBay Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $255.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $199.00 price target (down previously from $213.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $225.64.

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.

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