AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Acquired by MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 59.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,240,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $504,658,000 after purchasing an additional 78,800 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,872 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. Barclays began coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.53.

Insider Activity

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

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $213.72 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $169.37 and a one year high of $239.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $223.59 and a 200-day moving average of $220.99. The company has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.99. 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 (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The company had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

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.