Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,695 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $10,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 388.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $74.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.39 billion, a PE ratio of 31.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.87. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $75.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.02.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released 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 firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.