The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 19,570 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 519,772 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 19,570 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.14% of Equity Residential worth $37,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $576,737,000 after purchasing an additional 591,866 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. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,625,000 after buying an additional 14,109 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 104.6% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 8,789 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Equity Residential by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 182,397 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,430,000 after acquiring an additional 8,088 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the 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 owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial upped their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.71.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $70.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.19. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.41 and a 52-week high of $78.84. 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 (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 34.76% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is 105.73%.

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.

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