Spirit of America Management Corp NY Buys 1,700 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,890 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $810,470,000 after buying an additional 107,655 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 639,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised 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 buying an additional 935,770 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of AVB opened at $206.41 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.40 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $205.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.69.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 38.86%. The firm had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is 87.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AVB. Barclays lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 17,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% 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 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.

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