Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) CAO Sells $46,262.52 in Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.1 %

Equity Residential stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $71.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,374,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,762,525. The company has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.70. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $57.33 and a 52 week high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 607.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.36.

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.