Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $4.18 Million Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,593 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $4,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $219.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.37 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.46. The firm has a market cap of $31.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99.

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

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. The trade was a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.42% 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.