Bokf Na Trims Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Bokf Na lowered its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 505 shares during the quarter. Bokf Na’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,856 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. ING Groep NV increased its stake in Equity Residential by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 85,907 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,254,000 after purchasing an additional 25,305 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in Equity Residential by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 887,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,251,000 after purchasing an additional 8,202 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $78.08 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $78.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $71.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.15.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s 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.