Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Short Interest Update

by · The Markets Daily

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR – Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,670,000 shares, a growth of 16.2% from the February 13th total of 5,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth $2,493,426,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Equity Residential by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,796,976,000 after acquiring an additional 321,002 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,664,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $837,050,000 after buying an additional 57,660 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,519,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $681,594,000 after buying an additional 165,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $566,749,000 after buying an additional 152,248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on EQR shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on EQR

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of EQR stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $70.09. 421,391 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,577,690. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.71. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $59.48 and a 12-month high of $78.84. The stock has a market cap of $26.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

About Equity Residential

(Get Free Report)

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.

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