Signaturefd LLC Reduces Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Signaturefd LLC trimmed its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 45.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,654 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $122,000 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 EQR. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 245,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,004,000 after purchasing an additional 21,024 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 122.1% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 88.3% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 2,635 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $65.30 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $69.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $62.10 and its 200 day moving average is $59.87.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 112.03%.

About Equity Residential

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.