Narwhal Capital Management Raises Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Narwhal Capital Management lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 607.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,515 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 33,928 shares during the quarter. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $8,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVB. Proathlete Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1,666.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AVB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Mizuho cut their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $223.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.2%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $206.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $205.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.34. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $693.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is presently 87.17%.

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.

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