Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target Raised to $76.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price objective upped by Evercore ISI from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on EQR. Stifel Nicolaus raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.36.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.6 %

EQR opened at $71.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $26.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $57.33 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.75.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.26%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 7.5% in 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 buying an additional 10,472 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter valued at approximately $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 14,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 3.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 124,795 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.