Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp lessened its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 598 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $259,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795,772 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Equity Residential by 13.8% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 629,813 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 372,181 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 536.3% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 398,204 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,379,000 after buying an additional 335,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 83.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 510,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,973,000 after buying an additional 231,993 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $66.10 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $69.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

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

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. 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. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.03%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,860 shares of company stock worth $566,034 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQR. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho decreased 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. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.04.

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.