Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,963 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,157 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $5,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 234,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,739,000 after purchasing an additional 65,982 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $1,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Equity Residential by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,805,000 after acquiring an additional 24,787 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in Equity Residential by 128.7% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 11,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 743,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,636,000 after acquiring an additional 82,773 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 over the last quarter. 1.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.8 %

EQR stock opened at $61.69 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $69.45. The stock has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.34 and its 200 day moving average is $59.59.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.18). Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $727.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.675 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 122.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.32.

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.