Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Reduces Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd has significantly reduced its stake in AvalonBay Communities, selling 2,059 shares and now holding just 839 shares, a decrease of 71.0%.
• Institutional investors collectively own 92.61% of AvalonBay Communities, with various firms making adjustments to their positions in the first quarter.
• AvalonBay Communities announced a quarterly dividend of $1.75 per share, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.8%.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lowered its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 71.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 839 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,059 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVB. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.8% in the first quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,247 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,661 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.7% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 3,950 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,953 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,929,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 24.9% during the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 371 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $234.43.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AVB stock traded down $1.93 on Friday, hitting $184.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,833,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,314. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $202.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.48. The company has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $180.40 and a one year high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 previous year, the company posted $2.77 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is presently 86.21%.

Insider Activity

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,623,288.39. This represents a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

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.