T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 261,700 Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,375,704 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 261,700 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 6.39% of Independence Realty Trust worth $285,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,398,947 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $265,835,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037,968 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,139,652 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $121,811,000 after acquiring an additional 278,959 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,380,250 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $86,904,000 after acquiring an additional 352,307 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,561,615 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $70,662,000 after acquiring an additional 60,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,506,902 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $49,737,000 after acquiring an additional 11,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.25% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total value of $212,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 873,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,524,071.65. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of IRT traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $19.52. 562,173 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,094,092. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 108.33, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.15. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $22.26.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.24. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.11% and a net margin of 6.15%. Sell-side analysts expect that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Independence Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 355.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on IRT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, April 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.33.

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.