Insider Selling: Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) COO Sells 9,487 Shares of Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of EQR stock opened at $71.36 on Monday. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $57.33 and a 1-year high of $78.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.72. The firm has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on EQR. StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.36.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 806.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,259,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $317,136,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,234 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1,459.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,949,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,494 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,840 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,737,000 after purchasing an additional 591,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2,193.2% during the 3rd quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 416,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,024,000 after purchasing an additional 398,478 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.