Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,799 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 24,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,752,000 after buying an additional 2,205 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 118,708 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,518,000 after acquiring an additional 11,034 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth $13,921,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 99,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EQR shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven equities 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 company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.51.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $70.88 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.48 and a 1 year high of $78.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $70.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.93. The company has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.26%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.