Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Acquires New Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 455,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $32,664,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 5,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of EQR opened at $71.38 on Monday. 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 moving average of $70.95 and a 200 day moving average of $72.47. The company has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.48 and a 52-week high of $78.84.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.84%.

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.