Insider Selling: Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) CFO Sells 6,357 Shares of Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $69.36 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. 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 company earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQR. Raymond James raised shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.09.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 593.9% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.