Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Bought by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $7,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,782,000 after acquiring an additional 10,472 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,625,000 after acquiring an additional 14,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 3.2% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 124,795 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EQR shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.46.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $71.91 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.93. The stock has a market cap of $27.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.48 and a fifty-two week 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is 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.