Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $5.88 Million Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 96,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $5,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 245,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,004,000 after purchasing an additional 21,024 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 122.1% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 88.3% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,635 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $61.54 on Monday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.68.

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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.675 dividend. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 122.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.75.

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.