Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC decreased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 37,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,476 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 208,819 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,480,000 after buying an additional 22,693 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,542 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 56.8% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 90,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 32,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 82,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,746,000 after buying an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho cut their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays began coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.69.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $68.37 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $57.33 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.62. The company has a market capitalization of $25.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 110.66%.

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.