Vident Advisory LLC Sells 47,311 Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Vident Advisory LLC lessened its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT - Free Report) by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,120 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 47,311 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Independence Realty Trust were worth $1,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,398,947 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $265,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037,968 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 592.0% in the fourth quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,711,746 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,961,000 after buying an additional 1,464,400 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,381,684 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $67,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,421,377 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 2,601.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 837,787 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,622,000 after purchasing an additional 806,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,551,247 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $70,457,000 after acquiring an additional 793,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on IRT shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, April 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Compass Point reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total value of $212,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 873,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,524,071.65. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $232,245. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IRT traded down $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.10. The company had a trading volume of 231,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,083,073. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.66 and a 52 week high of $22.26. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.66, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98. The business's 50-day moving average is $19.35 and its 200 day moving average is $20.04.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.11% and a net margin of 6.15%. The business had revenue of $160.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Independence Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Independence Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 485.71%.

Independence Realty Trust Company Profile

Independence Realty Trust, Inc NYSE: IRT is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily communities, across non-gateway U.S. markets including Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Oklahoma City, OK, Nashville, TN, Houston, TX, and Tampa, FL.