Heritage Wealth Advisors Sells 223 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Heritage Wealth Advisors decreased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 22.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors’ holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after buying an additional 196,938 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,009,781,000 after purchasing an additional 27,629 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $805,113,000 after purchasing an additional 27,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,266,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $498,606,000 after buying an additional 26,265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $212.61 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $217.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.70. The company has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. On average, analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AVB shares. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

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.