3,200 Shares in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Bought by Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC

Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $770,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth about $1,577,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 13,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of EQR traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,206,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,988,336. The stock has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $72.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Equity Residential from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI downgraded Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.91.

Equity Residential 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.