Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock Position Lifted by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 32.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Seven Post Investment Office LP lifted its position in Equity Residential by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Seven Post Investment Office LP now owns 314,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,537,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 55,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 10,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 208.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.9 %

EQR stock opened at $69.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.66. The company has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.93. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $57.33 and a 12-month high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 110.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EQR. Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.36.

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.