New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 600 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 806.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,259,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $317,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,234 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 1,459.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,949,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,494 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 29.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,840 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,737,000 after purchasing an additional 591,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2,193.2% in the third quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 416,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,024,000 after buying an additional 398,478 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQR. Barclays decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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 increased their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % 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 Down 0.4 %

EQR stock opened at $71.23 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $58.81 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.64 and its 200-day moving average is $72.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.26%.

Equity Residential 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.