Insider Selling: Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Director Sells 3,241 Shares of Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of EQR traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.40. 1,986,628 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,120,099. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $69.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The company's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential's payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $2,143,388,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,416,565 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $259,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795,772 shares in the last quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,160,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,206,249 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $305,659,000 after purchasing an additional 629,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $570,333,000 after buying an additional 516,941 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a "hold" rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.04.

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.