Employees Retirement System of Texas Acquires 50,000 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 258,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Equity Residential comprises about 0.9% of Employees Retirement System of Texas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.07% of Equity Residential worth $185,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Equity Residential by 7.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 10,472 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP bought a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at about $321,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Equity Residential by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,714,000 after buying an additional 263,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.3% during 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. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their target price 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 cut their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Ten 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

Equity Residential Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $63.69 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $24.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.48 and a 12 month high of $78.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.18. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.84%.

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.