Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,570 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,395 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.07% of Equity Residential worth $17,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 6.5% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 3.3% in the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 20.9% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $71.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.78. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $58.81 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EQR. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays cut their target price 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. Scotiabank upped their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.42.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the firm’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 $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 approximately $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential 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.