Wellington Management Group LLP Has $2.80 Million Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,840 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 18,969 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 593.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Raymond James raised shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. 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 report on Monday, May 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.09.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.5 %

EQR opened at $69.34 on Monday. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $69.65. The company has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.15 and a 200-day moving average of $62.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Insider Activity

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

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.