Baillie Gifford & Co. Lowers Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 24.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,884 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,782,000 after buying an additional 10,472 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter worth $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,625,000 after buying an additional 14,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,008,341 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $298,461,000 after buying an additional 124,795 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company’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 $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.42.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.0 %

EQR stock opened at $71.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $58.81 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.78.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

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