Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 45.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 56,327 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 593.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock opened at $64.61 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.77. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 31.70%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business 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 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 4.18%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on EQR. Truist Financial dropped 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. BMO Capital Markets raised Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday. Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.75.

About Equity Residential

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.