Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $318.58 Million Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,208,787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 10,537 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $318,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 593.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,860 shares of company stock worth $566,034 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Monday, April 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.04.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE EQR traded up $0.25 on Monday, hitting $67.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 522,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,068,683. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $69.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.14 and its 200 day moving average is $60.33. The firm has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.82.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.03%.

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.