Golden State Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $59,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,796,976,000 after buying an additional 321,002 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,353,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $694,441,000 after acquiring an additional 132,638 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 29.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,840 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,737,000 after purchasing an additional 591,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 806.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,259,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $317,136,000 after buying an additional 3,789,234 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EQR shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the 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 $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.6 %

EQR opened at $70.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.73. 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 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 99.26%.

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.