Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $351,000 in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EQR. AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the second quarter worth about $321,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,542 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 103.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 18.7% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 47,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,328,000 after acquiring an additional 7,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 418,570 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,040,000 after purchasing an additional 4,699 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho cut their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.36.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $68.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $57.33 and a 12-month high of $78.83. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.66%.

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.