Barclays PLC Sells 121,774 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Barclays PLC lowered its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 655,041 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 121,774 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.17% of Equity Residential worth $47,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 208.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on EQR shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.01.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of EQR traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $70.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 265,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,712,965. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $26.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.34.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential's payout ratio is presently 101.84%.

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.