Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Bought by UBS Group AG

UBS Group AG lifted its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 887,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,202 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 0.23% of Equity Residential worth $54,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,143,388,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 68.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,416,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $259,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795,772 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Equity Residential by 13.8% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,206,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $305,659,000 after acquiring an additional 629,813 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $570,333,000 after purchasing an additional 516,941 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,369,707,000 after purchasing an additional 372,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR opened at $65.70 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $24.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.82. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the 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 directly owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.