Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Bought by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 229.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 207.7% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on EQR shares. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.32.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR opened at $59.69 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.61. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $69.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $22.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.18). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 29.07%. The firm had revenue of $727.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. Equity Residential’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 122.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, 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 value of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 in the last quarter. 1.69% of the stock is owned by company 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.