Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 32,651 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,340,238 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 32,651 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.62% of Equity Residential worth $167,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $10,782,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,625,000 after buying an additional 14,109 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 3.2% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $73.69 on Friday. 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 has a twelve month low of $59.02 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.84. The firm has a market cap of $27.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on EQR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.46.

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.