Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stake Boosted by Seven Post Investment Office LP

Seven Post Investment Office LP grew its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 300,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,944 shares during the period. Equity Residential accounts for about 4.6% of Seven Post Investment Office LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Seven Post Investment Office LP’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $18,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 18,556 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 39.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 234,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,739,000 after buying an additional 65,982 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $1,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 24,787 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 128.7% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 11,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,548 shares of company stock valued at $666,351 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded 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 report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.04.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR stock traded up $0.35 on Friday, reaching $65.91. 1,639,215 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,218,153. The company has a market cap of $25.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $62.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.23. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released 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. The business had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

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.