Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Purchases 14,915 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 60.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,597 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 14,915 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in Equity Residential by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Equity Residential by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $67.31. 2,046,589 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,742,379. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $69.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The business had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 105.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.25.

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.