Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Hazelview Securities Inc.

Hazelview Securities Inc. lowered its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 311,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 27,700 shares during the period. Equity Residential makes up approximately 3.6% of Hazelview Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Hazelview Securities Inc. owned about 0.08% of Equity Residential worth $19,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EQR. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Equity Residential by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,833,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in Equity Residential by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 67,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,130,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR traded down $0.50 on Wednesday, reaching $68.09. 486,967 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,993,854. The stock has a market cap of $25.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $69.57.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James upgraded Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.47.

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.