B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Trims Stock Holdings in Equity Residential $EQR

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its position in Equity Residential by 22.5%, holding 18,039 shares worth approximately $1.29 million after selling 5,248 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Equity Residential, with TCW Group Inc. leading the way by boosting its holdings by 40.4%, resulting in a total of 83,417 shares valued at about $5.97 million.
• Equity Residential reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.99, meeting expectations, with a revenue of $768.83 million, reflecting a 4.7% year-over-year increase.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 22.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,039 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,248 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,000,934 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,008,547,000 after purchasing an additional 199,943 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Equity Residential by 5.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,711,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,482,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,027 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 1.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,634,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $474,894,000 after purchasing an additional 112,004 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,560,478 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $326,439,000 after purchasing an additional 350,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,497,831 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $322,764,000 after purchasing an additional 238,686 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on EQR shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $76.50 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.90.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of EQR stock traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $65.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,391,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,894,288. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.41 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The company has a market capitalization of $25.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $65.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.11.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 33.22%.The business had revenue of $768.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equity Residential has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.970-4.030 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.990-1.030 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.53%.

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.