Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 13,072 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 486,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,072 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $29,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 14.4% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 149,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,751,000 after buying an additional 19,752 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,453 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 9,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 124,142 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 72,117 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James raised shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.22.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.32 on Friday, hitting $65.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,427,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,720,995. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.16. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.82.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.