3,672 Shares in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Acquired by MGO One Seven LLC

MGO One Seven LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,672 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 17,584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 4,069 shares during the period. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 79.1% in the 4th quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,161,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,323,000 after buying an additional 512,723 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 101,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The grew its position in Equity Residential by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 30,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ossiam increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 29,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $69.51 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.22. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.41 and a 12 month high of $78.84. The stock has a market cap of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The business had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 101.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $309,425.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,108 shares in the company, valued at $1,016,622.48. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EQR shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.01.

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.