Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 190,694 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,610,561 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 190,694 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 5.17% of Equity Residential worth $1,407,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 5,604 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of EQR stock traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 266,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,690,188. The company has a market cap of $26.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $69.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.23. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.84.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 101.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 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 $384,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.01.

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.