Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 150,000 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 77.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,468 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 150,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,701,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA boosted its position in Equity Residential by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 1,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EQR. Raymond James upgraded Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.22.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.2 %

Equity Residential stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $65.49. The company had a trading volume of 41,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,006,968. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $69.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.03. The firm has a market cap of $24.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.82.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.