New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 6,100 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 228,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,100 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $16,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter worth $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 208.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EQR. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.46.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of EQR opened at $71.56 on Monday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $58.81 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.