AlphaStar Capital Management LLC Buys 1,438 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

AlphaStar Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 32.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares during the quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,263 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Conning Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $780,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 112,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,104,000 after purchasing an additional 6,651 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQR. 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.36.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $71.36 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.92 and its 200 day moving average is $72.72. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $57.33 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 99.26%.

Equity Residential Company 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.