Czech National Bank Purchases 4,464 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,491 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 4,464 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $5,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,714,000 after buying an additional 263,622 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $321,000. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,210,383 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $302,137,000 after buying an additional 136,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $13,921,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $68.40. 1,545,123 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,715,182. 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 has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.84. The company has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.58.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The business had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Equity Residential's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.50.

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.