Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys New Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 80,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $5,778,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,796,976,000 after purchasing an additional 321,002 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,353,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $694,441,000 after buying an additional 132,638 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $566,749,000 after acquiring an additional 152,248 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 29.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 806.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,259,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $317,136,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.46.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock opened at $75.01 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.48 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.91.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 99.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $309,425.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,016,622.48. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.