Legal & General Group Plc Has $352.64 Million Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,914,162 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 688,727 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 1.30% of Equity Residential worth $352,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth about $2,493,426,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after acquiring an additional 696,343 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $576,737,000 after purchasing an additional 591,866 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,664,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 100.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 691,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $49,590,000 after purchasing an additional 347,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 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 transaction of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at $2,558,634.42. The trade was a 13.07 % 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 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.51.

Equity Residential Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded up $1.70 on Monday, reaching $66.34. 318,150 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,711,929. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.17 and a 200 day moving average of $71.62. The company has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

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.