Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 5,625 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 5,625 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $9,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of Equity Residential 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,625 shares of company stock worth $913,158 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EQR. Piper Sandler raised shares of Equity Residential from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.09.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE:EQR traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.03. The stock had a trading volume of 569,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,962,232. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $69.65.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. Equity Residential’s dividend 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.