Inspire Advisors LLC Acquires 537 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EQR. Mizuho cut their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.51.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $69.87 on Wednesday. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.48 and a 52-week 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.90. The firm has a market cap of $26.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 99.26%.

About Equity Residential

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.