Fiduciary Group LLC Sells 413 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Fiduciary Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 413 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,369,707,000 after acquiring an additional 372,181 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,457,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $320,386,000 after acquiring an additional 94,511 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 13.8% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,206,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,659,000 after acquiring an additional 629,813 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 68.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,416,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795,772 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,136,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $242,876,000 after acquiring an additional 203,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $65.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $69.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 112.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EQR shares. Mizuho cut their price target on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.