PFG Investments LLC Buys 93 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,133,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,698 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $810,470,000 after purchasing an additional 107,655 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $688,527,000 after purchasing an additional 639,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,642,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $581,324,000 after purchasing an additional 935,770 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVB. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total value of $1,245,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $201.53 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $28.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.40 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $205.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.09.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $693.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.86% and a return on equity of 9.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.70 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 87.17%.

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.