Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,791 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $8,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 0.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,822,309,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 5.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,983,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,515,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269,082 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 7.7% during the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,912,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,727,000 after purchasing an additional 566,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 2.3% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,839,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $469,403,000 after purchasing an additional 176,762 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 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 $50,632.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,927.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 in the last quarter. 1.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on EQR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.32.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $60.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $69.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.63. The company has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $727.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.07 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 29.07%. Equity Residential’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company 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. 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 4.43%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 122.73%.

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.