AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB) shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest of late.
In today’s marketplace, there are many methods market participants can use to monitor stocks. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. Obviously, there are many motivations for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a gander at the key action surrounding AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB).
What have hedge funds been doing with AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 5% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the biggest position in AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB), worth close to $236 million, accounting for 0.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Jeffrey Furber of AEW Capital Management, with a $194 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.
Now, specific money managers have jumped into AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB) headfirst. Pine River Capital Management, managed by Brian Taylor, assembled the most outsized position in AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB). Pine River Capital Management had 17 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital also initiated a $4 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AVB investors: Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital and John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by our strategies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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