New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 7,083 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,083 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of AvalonBay Communities worth $22,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 4.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 3.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 41,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares in the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 58,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,090,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 15.7% in the third quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AVB. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley cut AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.73.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $217.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.85 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $219.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.49.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.53 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.59%.

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.