Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Has $49.86 Million Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 696,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,757 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $49,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 806.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,259,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $317,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,234 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 1,459.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,949,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,158,000 after buying an additional 1,824,494 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,804,000 after buying an additional 1,741,840 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,737,000 after buying an additional 591,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2,193.2% in the 3rd quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 416,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,024,000 after acquiring an additional 398,478 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.36.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the completion of 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $71.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.72 and its 200-day moving average is $72.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $58.10 and a 12 month high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s 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.