Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) CAO Sells $46,262.52 in Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $71.36 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $71.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.70. The firm has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.93. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $57.33 and a 1-year high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.66%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 607.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter worth $29,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EQR shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.36.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.