American Century Companies Inc. Has $4.99 Million Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at $1,822,309,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,663,386 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $452,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,159 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,662,878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $451,345,000 after acquiring an additional 168,235 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 7,569,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,983,672 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,346,688 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $433,454,000 after purchasing an additional 186,474 shares during the period. 84.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 31st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. 3M restated an “upgrade” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Friday, June 9th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Equity Residential from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.94.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of EQR opened at $63.62 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a one year low of $54.60 and a one year high of $77.92. The company has a market cap of $24.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.11.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 26th were given a dividend of $0.6625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total transaction of $165,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 22,844 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.69% of the company’s stock.

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 304 properties consisting of 80,212 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.