American International Group Inc. Sells 667 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

American International Group Inc. cut its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 667 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $5,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 593.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on EQR. Evercore ISI downgraded Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.7 %

Equity Residential stock opened at $68.31 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $25.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.85.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

About Equity Residential

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.