Xponance Inc. Decreases Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Xponance Inc. decreased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,229 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 543 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 234.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 9,035 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 45.5% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 85.2% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter worth about $687,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 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 $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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’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 $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, 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 the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335. Company insiders own 1.69% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $61.54 on Monday. 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 company 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. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.68.

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

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EQR. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.32.

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.