Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) EVP Sells $384,800.40 in Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $71.36 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $57.33 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,796,976,000 after purchasing an additional 321,002 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,353,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $694,441,000 after buying an additional 132,638 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $566,749,000 after buying an additional 152,248 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,804,000 after buying an additional 1,741,840 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 806.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,259,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $317,136,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.