Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 297 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,232 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 297 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Equity Residential by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,369,707,000 after acquiring an additional 372,181 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,822,309,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Equity Residential by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,983,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,515,182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269,082 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its position in Equity Residential by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,912,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,727,000 after acquiring an additional 566,203 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,839,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $469,403,000 after acquiring an additional 176,762 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EQR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.04.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.69% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.9 %

EQR opened at $61.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.49. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $69.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.18). Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $727.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 122.73%.

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.