Avior Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,635 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 88.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,635 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $3,369,707,000 after buying an additional 372,181 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,822,309,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,983,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,515,182,000 after buying an additional 1,269,082 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 7.7% during the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,912,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,727,000 after buying an additional 566,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,839,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $469,403,000 after buying an additional 176,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $61.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.65. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The company has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $727.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.07 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Equity Residential news, 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 transaction of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335. Insiders own 1.69% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Company 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.