First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 227,461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 26,125 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.06% of Equity Residential worth $16,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in Equity Residential by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 5,604 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.8 %

EQR stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Thursday, hitting $70.81. 959,962 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,698,465. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $26.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.41 and a 1 year high of $78.84. The firm's 50 day moving average is $69.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.21.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. 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. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EQR. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. Truist Financial raised their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.71.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.