ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 5,743 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,759 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 5,743 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $6,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Equity Residential by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 87.2% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,706 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 4,056 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $1,997,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $351,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,454 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,354,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,731,252. 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 company has a market cap of $25.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.41 and a 1 year high of $78.84. The business's 50 day moving average price is $68.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.80.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. 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 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.