Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) PT Raised to $70.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a hold rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $68.22.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,104,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,068,831. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $69.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.82.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential's payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 593.9% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

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.