AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Stock Holdings Lifted by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,407 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.09% of AvalonBay Communities worth $28,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVB. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1,761.6% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,515 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $382,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 338,796 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vert Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 63,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $220.82 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.87. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.37 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.00.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total value of $528,576.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 111,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,051,508.08. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities 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.