LGT Capital Partners LTD. Lowers Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. trimmed its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 96,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 27,310 shares during the period. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $5,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 229.8% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 207.7% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho cut their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.04.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $50,632.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335. Corporate insiders own 1.69% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $63.11 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.70 and its 200 day moving average is $59.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.84. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $727.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.07 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 122.73%.

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.