Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 3,030 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd trimmed its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,438 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,030 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,856 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 85,907 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,254,000 after purchasing an additional 25,305 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 887,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,251,000 after buying an additional 8,202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $78.08 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.15. The company has a market cap of $29.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $78.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Equity Residential’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EQR shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.62.

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.