Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,069,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 60,987 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $292,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,782,000 after buying an additional 10,472 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 12.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 14,109 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $351,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.46.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.4 %

EQR stock opened at $73.74 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.48 and a twelve month high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 99.26%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.