Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Grows Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $36,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,143,388,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,279,095,000 after acquiring an additional 381,236 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,349,000 after acquiring an additional 71,716 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $570,333,000 after purchasing an additional 516,941 shares during the period. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,527,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,058,000 after purchasing an additional 309,796 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.84.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

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

Equity Residential Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $71.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $27.12 billion, a PE ratio of 29.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $72.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.01 and a 200 day moving average of $64.39.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

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.