Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock Position Cut by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC lessened its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 10.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 261 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 388.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $74.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $75.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.87.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.16.

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.