Northern Trust Corp Buys 2,246,555 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 53.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,476,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 2,246,555 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.71% of Equity Residential worth $464,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 607.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 208.1% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE:EQR traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,103,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,698,878. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. 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 posted 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 company had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is 105.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on EQR. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.71.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.