Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by BDF Gestion

BDF Gestion lowered its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 67,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 23,460 shares during the quarter. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth $923,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 12.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,625,000 after purchasing an additional 14,109 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. 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 valued at $10,782,000 after buying an additional 10,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.2% during 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 Trading Down 0.9 %

Equity Residential stock opened at $68.61 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $57.33 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.69. The firm has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.36.

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.