First Affirmative Financial Network Has $383,000 Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

First Affirmative Financial Network lessened its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,343 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the third quarter worth $29,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 2,529.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 69.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho cut their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.36.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $68.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a PEG 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 has a twelve month low of $57.33 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid 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 yield of 3.94%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.66%.

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.