Insider Selling: Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Director Sells $212,220.68 in Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.6 %

EQR opened at $64.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $24.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.84. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $69.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.93.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Equity Residential by 593.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on EQR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.04.

Equity Residential Company 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.