Insider Selling: Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) EVP Sells 656 Shares of Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $42,725.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,194,419.07. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.3%

Equity Residential stock traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.73. 3,402,201 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,756,423. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.76. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $58.38 and a 52-week high of $75.86.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.35 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 36.20%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Equity Residential has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.940-0.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EQR. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $78.50 price objective on Equity Residential in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $78.00 target price on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,728,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,354 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Equity Residential by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,630,103,000 after buying an additional 688,854 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $644,412,000 after buying an additional 114,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $582,617,000 after buying an additional 44,127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.