Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EQR. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Equity Residential by 593.9% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Equity Residential by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the third quarter worth about $40,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.04.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential 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 in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Equity Residential 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.4 %

EQR stock opened at $65.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

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.