Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock Position Lowered by LGT Capital Partners LTD.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lessened its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 40.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 29,930 shares during the period. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 66.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,737,000 after buying an additional 591,866 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 3.3% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 28,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,089,000 after buying an additional 6,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EQR shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho cut their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.46.

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 dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $71.97 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.48 and a one year high of $78.83. The company has a market capitalization of $27.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

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

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.