Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV trimmed its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,606 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,023 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,782,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Equity Residential by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 12.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,625,000 after buying an additional 14,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,008,341 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $298,461,000 after buying an additional 124,795 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.46.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $71.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.44 and a 200-day moving average of $72.79. The company has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $58.81 and a 12-month high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Equity Residential

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.