Portfolio Design Labs LLC Has $2.32 Million Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 32.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 32,378 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,927 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $255,000. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 10,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 45,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,608 shares during the period. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 5,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,263 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,108 shares in the company, valued at $1,016,622.48. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on EQR. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.36.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE EQR opened at $71.44 on Wednesday. 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 has a twelve month low of $57.33 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The company has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.83 and its 200 day moving average is $72.74.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.