Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Purchases Shares of 455,187 Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 455,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $32,664,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.12% of Equity Residential at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in Equity Residential by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 5,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company’s 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. This represents 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $71.38 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.95 and a 200 day moving average of $72.47. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.48 and a 52 week high of $78.84. The company has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.6925 dividend. This is an increase 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EQR. Evercore ISI lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho reduced 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.51.

About Equity Residential

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.