National Pension Service Sells 37,088 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

National Pension Service decreased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 517,090 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 37,088 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $37,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,472 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter worth about $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $9,625,000 after purchasing an additional 14,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $298,461,000 after purchasing an additional 124,795 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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 dropped their target price 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.46.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock opened at $74.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.86. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.19 and a one year high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In related news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the 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 directly owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.