Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC Purchases 512,723 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC raised its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 79.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,161,137 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 512,723 shares during the period. Equity Residential comprises approximately 3.5% of Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC owned about 0.31% of Equity Residential worth $83,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,493,426,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,664,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $837,050,000 after purchasing an additional 57,660 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,519,627 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $681,594,000 after purchasing an additional 165,683 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $566,749,000 after buying an additional 152,248 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after buying an additional 696,343 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $309,425.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,108 shares in the company, valued at $1,016,622.48. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.01.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.90. The stock had a trading volume of 459,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,702,410. The company has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.41 and a 12 month high of $78.84. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $69.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.30. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is presently 101.84%.

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.