Convergence Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the third quarter valued at approximately $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 8.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 14,109 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,008,341 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $298,461,000 after buying an additional 124,795 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 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 value of $309,425.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,622.48. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EQR. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. 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 reduced their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.42.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $71.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $58.81 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.77. The stock has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.