Sovran Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,651 Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,651 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EQR. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,782,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the third quarter valued at $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,625,000 after acquiring an additional 14,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,008,341 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $298,461,000 after acquiring an additional 124,795 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.42.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE EQR traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $71.23. 1,901,216 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,749,502. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $70.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.77. The company has a market cap of $27.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $58.81 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.79%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is presently 99.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % 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 this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.