Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,665,380 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 11,065 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $124,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 69.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 146.6% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EQR. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America lowered Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.42.

Equity Residential Stock Up 2.2 %

EQR opened at $74.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.32 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $54.53 and a 52 week high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.66%.

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.