Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,631 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EQR. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 17.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Equity Residential by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 1,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQR. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Raymond James upgraded Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $50,632.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $65.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. Equity Residential’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

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.