Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $11.71 Million Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 80.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 163,143 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 72,513 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $11,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 607.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 208.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.71.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,586,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,701,205. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.41 and a fifty-two week high of $78.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $26.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.32 and a 200-day moving average of $71.09.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The company had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is 105.73%.

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.