American International Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

American International Group Inc. cut its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 667 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $5,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 593.9% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQR. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Equity Residential 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 value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $68.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.49. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $69.45. 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 (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

Equity Residential Company 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.