Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Acquires 17,000 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 36.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 63,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,493,426,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,796,976,000 after buying an additional 321,002 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,519,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $681,594,000 after buying an additional 165,683 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $566,749,000 after acquiring an additional 152,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,210,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $302,137,000 after acquiring an additional 136,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $309,425.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,622.48. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $63.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.48 and a fifty-two 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.21.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Mizuho dropped their price objective 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 target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

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.