GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 1,709 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 44.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,518 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% during 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. purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on EQR shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.84.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of EQR stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $69.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,120,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,293. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.25. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $72.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Equity Residential Company 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.