New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Trims Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,782,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter valued at $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 12.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,625,000 after purchasing an additional 14,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,008,341 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $298,461,000 after purchasing an additional 124,795 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on EQR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.42.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.4 %

EQR opened at $71.23 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equity Residential has a one year low of $58.81 and a one year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.