KBC Group NV Sells 77,388 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

KBC Group NV decreased its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 57.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 58,421 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 77,388 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $12,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,133,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,698 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $810,470,000 after purchasing an additional 107,655 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $688,527,000 after purchasing an additional 639,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 935,770 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho reduced 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of 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 given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 22,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,859.74. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB stock traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $203.91. The company had a trading volume of 347,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,573. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $205.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.14. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.40 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The company has a market capitalization of $29.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is currently 87.17%.

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.