Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,224,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 60,099 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.38% of Equity Residential worth $374,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 607.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 208.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.51.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $68.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. 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 50-day simple moving average is $69.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.41. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.41 and a fifty-two week high of $78.84.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.84%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Company 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.

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