Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 82.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,598 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $71,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased 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 worth $1,796,976,000 after purchasing an additional 321,002 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 132,638 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,737,000 after acquiring an additional 591,866 shares during 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 valued at $317,136,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,234 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $71.56 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.81. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $58.81 and a 52 week high of $78.83. 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 has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 3.99 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 dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.46.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.