Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Has $2.17 Million Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $2,143,388,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Equity Residential by 1.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,279,095,000 after purchasing an additional 381,236 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $709,349,000 after purchasing an additional 71,716 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $570,333,000 after purchasing an additional 516,941 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 482.3% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,153,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $496,040,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925,177 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.1 %

EQR stock opened at $74.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.42 billion, a PE ratio of 31.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.81. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $75.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.16.

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.