Atomi Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 121 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 11,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,424,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 16,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,666,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $214.48 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $223.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $221.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.37 and a twelve month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.