IFM Investors Pty Ltd Buys 2,993 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,961 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,993 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $14,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.3% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 2,694 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 30.0% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,976 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.5% during the first quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 5,896 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 21.9% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 48,476 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,404,000 after buying an additional 2,243 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on AVB shares. Barclays increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Truist Financial increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Mizuho reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut AvalonBay Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.86.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:AVB traded down $0.86 on Tuesday, hitting $201.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 782,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,866. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $205.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.85. 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, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 38.86%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,623,288.39. This trade represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.