Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Bought by Inspire Advisors LLC

Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 18.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,131 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 331,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,482,000 after purchasing an additional 14,770 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 61.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,805,000 after buying an additional 24,787 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,369,707,000 after buying an additional 372,181 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 75,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,635,000 after buying an additional 7,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,701,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.62. 334,935 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,937,566. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.82 and a 200 day moving average of $63.38. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $69.65. The company has a market capitalization of $26.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.87.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 3.93%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on EQR shares. Evercore ISI downgraded Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 13th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler raised Equity Residential from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,910.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,625 shares of company stock worth $913,158. 1.00% of the stock is 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.