Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 152,248 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 152,248 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 2.08% of Equity Residential worth $566,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EQR. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 7.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,957 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 9.6% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,239 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 233.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,586 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 193,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $14,372,000 after buying an additional 3,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 17,060 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EQR. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.42.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR traded up $0.54 on Thursday, hitting $71.66. 1,105,761 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,634,383. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $58.81 and a 12 month high of $78.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 owns 25,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.