Flputnam Investment Management Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. cut its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 461 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVB. State Street Corp raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 5.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,087,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,711,547,000 after purchasing an additional 531,677 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth about $1,001,550,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 18.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,863,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $817,348,000 after purchasing an additional 759,388 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,833,571 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $812,332,000 after purchasing an additional 106,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.1% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,157,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $529,565,000 after purchasing an additional 66,300 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $182.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.92. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.45 and a 1-year high of $198.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $180.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.85.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $704.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $701.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 7.98%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 103.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVB. Wolfe Research lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Barclays raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $194.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $197.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $206.00 price target on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total transaction of $928,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,330.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About AvalonBay Communities

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.