Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Short Interest Update

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,670,000 shares, an increase of 16.2% from the February 13th total of 5,740,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research 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, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays decreased 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the firm’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 $46,262.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $2,493,426,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,796,976,000 after purchasing an additional 321,002 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,664,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $837,050,000 after purchasing an additional 57,660 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,519,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $681,594,000 after acquiring an additional 165,683 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $566,749,000 after acquiring an additional 152,248 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded up $0.32 on Thursday, reaching $70.09. The company had a trading volume of 421,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,577,690. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $26.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.71. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.48 and a 52-week high of $78.84.

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.