Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,126 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,656 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $13,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,782,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $321,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,714,000 after acquiring an additional 263,622 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho cut their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.51.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $69.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.64. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.48 and a one year high of $78.84. 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 stock has a market cap of $26.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 101.84%.

Equity Residential 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.