Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,800,991 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 114,173 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 14.71% of Equity Residential worth $4,004,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQR. State Street Corp grew its position in Equity Residential by 1.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 321,002 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 132,638 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $566,749,000 after purchasing an additional 152,248 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 29.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $317,136,000 after buying an additional 3,789,234 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $384,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the business’s 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 owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.51.

Equity Residential Trading Up 2.3 %

Equity Residential stock opened at $71.40 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.48 and a 12 month high of $78.84. The company has a market capitalization of $27.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. This is an increase 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%.

Equity Residential Company 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.