Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $13.92 Million in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 193,991 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $13,921,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Equity Residential at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EQR. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,737,000 after acquiring an additional 591,866 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 129,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,615,000 after buying an additional 17,948 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 50,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,784,000 after buying an additional 3,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,713 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.9 %

EQR stock opened at $69.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $26.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.73. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.48 and a 52 week high of $78.84.

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.