abrdn plc Grows Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 327,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,564 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned 0.23% of AvalonBay Communities worth $73,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1,877.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 38.8% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVB has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.88.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $227.62 on Wednesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $160.45 and a one year high of $236.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.51, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.97.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.93). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 29.61%. The company had revenue of $726.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $718.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,780,506.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other AvalonBay Communities news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total value of $414,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at $908,026.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,780,506.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.