Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 288,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 34,067 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $17,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 950,498 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,132,000 after purchasing an additional 9,173 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 108.9% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 8,354 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 180,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,056,000 after purchasing an additional 7,976 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 96,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $65.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.84. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.675 dividend. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on EQR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company 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 increased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.04.

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.