Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Position Raised by Bamco Inc. NY

Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 55.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,067,763 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 379,565 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY owned 0.28% of Equity Residential worth $76,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 8.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $576,737,000 after acquiring an additional 591,866 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 104.6% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 8,789 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Equity Residential by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 182,397 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,430,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.71.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.4 %

Equity Residential stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,586,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,701,207. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.09. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.41 and a 12 month high of $78.84. The stock has a market cap of $26.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.