Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Cuts Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich decreased its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 552 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $139,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.51.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $69.87 on Wednesday. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.48 and a 1-year high of $78.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.90.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued 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 3.86%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the firm’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 owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.