GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 625 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EQR. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Equity Residential by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,001,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $346,794,000 after acquiring an additional 60,000 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter valued at approximately $923,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 244,571.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 17,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 17,120 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 47,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after acquiring an additional 7,549 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 12.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,625,000 after acquiring an additional 14,109 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America cut Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com cut Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.14.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $70.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.59. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $57.33 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.06, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 110.66%.

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.