Norges Bank Buys Shares of 7,691,993 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Norges Bank bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,691,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,394,635,000. Norges Bank owned 5.43% of AvalonBay Communities at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 21.0% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 44,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,646,000 after buying an additional 7,780 shares during the period. Pensionfund PDN bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth about $3,648,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 216,153 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,754,000 after acquiring an additional 6,511 shares in the last quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% in the third quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. now owns 161,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,117,000 after acquiring an additional 8,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 444,222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,449,000 after acquiring an additional 17,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:AVB opened at $182.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $25.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.79. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $209.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.10.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.73.

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.