Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Purchased by Tower Research Capital LLC TRC

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 30.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,584 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 4,069 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 79.1% during the 4th quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,161,137 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $83,323,000 after buying an additional 512,723 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 101,026 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The raised its position in Equity Residential by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 30,757 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Ossiam lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 29,565 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,224,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $374,911,000 after purchasing an additional 60,099 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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, Scotiabank increased 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.01.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.53 on Wednesday, reaching $70.06. 613,405 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,789,164. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.44 and a 200-day moving average of $71.22. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, 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 $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equities 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 dividend of $0.6925 per share. This is an increase from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's payout ratio is currently 101.84%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.