Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Acquires 9,370 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. raised its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 59.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,370 shares during the period. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 607.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $75.01 on Tuesday. 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 $78.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.91. The stock has a market cap of $28.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the company’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 $309,425.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,622.48. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.46.

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.