Invesco Ltd. Buys 696,343 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 696,343 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.72% of Equity Residential worth $468,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 109.5% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 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 transaction of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on EQR shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.51.

Equity Residential Stock Up 2.6 %

EQR stock traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $66.34. The company had a trading volume of 318,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,929. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.62. The company has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.41 and a 1 year high of $78.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.84%.

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.