Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Buys 219 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $8,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.3% during the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $73.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.48 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.71 and a 200-day moving average of $72.93.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

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