Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $273.73 Million Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,509,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 241,310 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 1.07% of AvalonBay Communities worth $273,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,537,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,858,788,000 after purchasing an additional 92,467 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth about $1,394,635,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,497,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,360,000 after purchasing an additional 383,983 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 6.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,215,821 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $814,376,000 after purchasing an additional 249,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,151,217 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $750,042,000 after purchasing an additional 228,244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $203.00 price target (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. 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 report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.44.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE AVB opened at $189.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.78. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $160.10 and a one year high of $209.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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

AvalonBay Communities Profile

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.