Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by BDF Gestion

BDF Gestion lessened its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 23,460 shares during the period. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 2nd quarter valued at $803,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 101.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 60,857 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,195,000 after acquiring an additional 30,587 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 7.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 32.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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 decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.36.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $68.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $57.33 and a 12 month high of $78.83. The company has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $71.81 and its 200-day moving average is $72.69.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.66%.

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.