AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Acquired by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,074,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $429,145,000 after purchasing an additional 13,631 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 14.4% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,980,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $367,534,000 after acquiring an additional 249,400 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.5% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,847,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $342,824,000 after acquiring an additional 8,809 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,183,121 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,776,000 after acquiring an additional 126,055 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 521,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $96,781,000 after purchasing an additional 29,953 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $226.88.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $227.93 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $226.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.05. The stock has a market cap of $32.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.97. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.60 and a 12-month high of $236.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total transaction of $528,576.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 111,436 shares in the company, valued at $26,051,508.08. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.