Northern Trust Corp Grows Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 53.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,476,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,246,555 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.71% of Equity Residential worth $464,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,714,000 after buying an additional 263,622 shares in the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,782,000 after acquiring an additional 10,472 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $321,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 12.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,625,000 after purchasing an additional 14,109 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho dropped 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 upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price objective on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.01.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $69.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.22. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.41 and a twelve month high of $78.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $0.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.