Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 24.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,175 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,893,000. Boston Partners increased its position in Equity Residential by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,715,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $171,368,000 after purchasing an additional 112,270 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 1st quarter valued at $2,841,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Equity Residential by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,001,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $346,794,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 244,571.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 17,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 17,120 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $77.12 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.24. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $56.05 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 110.66%.

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.