Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Sells 6,107 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC decreased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 61.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,887 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,107 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,499,050,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,488,975 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $547,500,000 after buying an additional 828,009 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% in 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. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 554,290 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $121,927,000 after purchasing an additional 188,906 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,449,566 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $318,861,000 after buying an additional 170,952 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AVB. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $209.73. 187,768 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 688,797. The business has a 50-day moving average of $209.19 and a 200 day moving average of $218.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.86 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.61 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.70 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.23%.

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.