California Public Employees Retirement System Has $58.13 Million Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 950,498 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 9,173 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.25% of Equity Residential worth $58,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 17.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA increased 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 period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the firm’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 $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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR opened at $64.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.84. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $69.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $61.89 and its 200-day moving average is $59.81.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.04.

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 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.