Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 938,713 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 33,243 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.66% of AvalonBay Communities worth $170,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,537,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,858,788,000 after buying an additional 92,467 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter valued at $1,394,635,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,497,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $815,360,000 after buying an additional 383,983 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,215,821 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $814,376,000 after buying an additional 249,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,151,217 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $750,042,000 after buying an additional 228,244 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.44.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $189.72 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $26.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.78. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $209.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $770.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $768.80 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.21% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.83 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc (NYSE: AVB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay’s core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay’s operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.