California Public Employees Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 766,894 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,247 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.20% of Equity Residential worth $55,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 7.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $321,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the third quarter worth approximately $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,714,000 after purchasing an additional 263,622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. Mizuho cut their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.51.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, 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 at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:EQR opened at $71.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.01 and a 200 day moving average of $72.38. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.48 and a 1-year high of $78.84.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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 dividend yield of 3.89%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.84%.

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.