Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 1,566 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 34.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,106 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EQR. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Equity Residential by 0.3% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,833,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 67,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,130,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,625 shares of company stock worth $913,158 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.09.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $69.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.15 and a 200-day moving average of $62.87. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $69.65. The stock has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

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.