Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Increases Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 26.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 321,555 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 67,457 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.23% of AvalonBay Communities worth $58,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. BOKF NA purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $172.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $203.00 price target (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $197.00.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $171.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.80 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.75. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $213.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company's 50 day moving average is $171.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.03.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $767.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.38 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.57% and a return on equity of 8.78%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $1.78 per share. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.94%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc NYSE: AVB is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay's core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay's operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.

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