Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 48.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,600 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 569,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,962,000 after purchasing an additional 152,736 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 165,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,131,000 after acquiring an additional 20,010 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 200.9% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,861,000 after acquiring an additional 51,423 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Equity Residential by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,279,095,000 after purchasing an additional 381,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the second quarter valued at $3,893,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $76.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.62. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EQR shares. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Twelve 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.62.

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.