Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) EVP Sells $261,795.27 in Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.6 %

Equity Residential stock opened at $64.04 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $24.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.84. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $69.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.93.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly 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. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQR. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.3% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,833,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position 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 worth $95,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 67,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.04.

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.