Davis R M Inc. Purchases New Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Davis R M Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EQR. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,796,976,000 after purchasing an additional 321,002 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,353,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $694,441,000 after purchasing an additional 132,638 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $566,749,000 after purchasing an additional 152,248 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 806.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,259,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $317,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,234 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on EQR shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.51.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $68.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.48 and a 52 week high of $78.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.64 and its 200 day moving average is $72.87. The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91.

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.