Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by NFJ Investment Group LLC

NFJ Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 96,032 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $6,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $2,493,426,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $468,050,000 after purchasing an additional 696,343 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,737,000 after purchasing an additional 591,866 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth about $32,664,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 100.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 691,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,590,000 after buying an additional 347,085 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $67.13 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 1 year low of $59.41 and a 1 year high of $78.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.51. The firm has a market cap of $25.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 101.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.51.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, 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 three months, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equity Residential 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.