Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) EVP Sells $384,800.40 in Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the business'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 $384,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. This trade 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 through this hyperlink.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,234,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,158. The company has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's fifty day moving average is $70.83 and its 200-day moving average is $72.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.36. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $57.33 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake 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 worth $317,136,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,234 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Equity Residential by 1,459.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,949,473 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $145,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824,494 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $576,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,840 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $576,737,000 after acquiring an additional 591,866 shares during the period. Finally, Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC raised its stake in Equity Residential by 2,193.2% during the third quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 416,647 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,024,000 after acquiring an additional 398,478 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 subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.36.

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.