Wealth Alliance Sells 173 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Wealth Alliance decreased its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 173 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 11,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,769 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 53,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Barclays reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $309,425.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,016,622.48. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value 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 $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $71.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $58.81 and a 1-year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.26%.

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.