Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 80,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $5,778,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,782,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the third quarter worth $923,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth $321,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 12.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,625,000 after purchasing an additional 14,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR opened at $68.93 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.56 and a 200 day moving average of $72.80. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.48 and a fifty-two week high of $78.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQR. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.51.

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.