Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 13,200 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 115,907 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 13,200 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $8,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $72.80 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 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 0.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 99.26%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.46.

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.