Benjamin Edwards Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 75.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,174 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Equity Residential by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 146,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,965,000 after purchasing an additional 18,556 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Equity Residential by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 234,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,739,000 after acquiring an additional 65,982 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Equity Residential by 61.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,805,000 after acquiring an additional 24,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 128.7% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 11,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company 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 on the stock 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.04.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $65.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.02 billion, a PE ratio of 27.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.45 and a 200-day moving average of $60.01. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 112.03%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,548 shares of company stock worth $666,351. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.