Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Grows Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 195,479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 55,129 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $14,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 806.4% in 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 valued at $317,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,234 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 during the last quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2,193.2% in the 3rd quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 416,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,024,000 after purchasing an additional 398,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 100.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 691,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,590,000 after purchasing an additional 347,085 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on EQR shares. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.51.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $70.17 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $59.48 and a 52-week high of $78.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.69. The company has a market capitalization of $26.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.6925 dividend. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.