Woodline Partners LP Buys Shares of 142,215 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 142,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $31,283,000. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.10% of AvalonBay Communities at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sophron Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth $11,754,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 6,512 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 86,692 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,070,000 after buying an additional 10,040 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 433.8% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,119 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 1,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 75,999 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,718,000 after buying an additional 5,349 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AVB. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $237.86.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE AVB traded down $1.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $198.13. The company had a trading volume of 882,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 711,072. The firm's 50 day moving average is $205.10 and its 200 day moving average is $216.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The company has a market capitalization of $28.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $693.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 3.53%. 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.