Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.76% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $63.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.48.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting $62.28. 101,562 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,574,858. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $23.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.73. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $57.57 and a 1-year high of $72.40.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.01). Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equity Residential has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.940-0.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $375,474.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 46,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,004,512.03. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $42,725.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,194,419.07. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,058 shares of company stock valued at $655,078. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,728,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,354 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,630,103,000 after acquiring an additional 688,854 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $644,412,000 after acquiring an additional 114,604 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $582,617,000 after purchasing an additional 44,127 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.