Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 10,204 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,204 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $8,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 182.8% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 143,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,779,000 after purchasing an additional 92,463 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth $249,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 67,229 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 36,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $188.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $181.74 and a 200 day moving average of $178.34. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.45 and a 12 month high of $198.65. The firm has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 103.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

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 stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,330.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total value of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at $4,054,985.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AVB shares. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Wolfe Research cut AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $191.50 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays upgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $194.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $206.00 price objective for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.78.

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.