Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Holdings Trimmed by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,838 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.5 %

EQR stock opened at $71.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.37. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.48 and a 52-week high of $78.84. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on 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. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.51.

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.