Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 192 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,068 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 192 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 62,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,487,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 552,780 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,667,000 after purchasing an additional 22,453 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 40,099.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 84,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,058,000 after buying an additional 84,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $2,493,426,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $309,425.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,622.48. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.2 %

EQR opened at $71.38 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.48 and a 12 month 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.49. The company has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.6925 dividend. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 101.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on EQR. Barclays dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. 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, Truist Financial raised their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.51.

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.