Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 26.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 328,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 117,651 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $22,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EQR. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 3.8% during the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 12.4% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $73.97 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.12. The company has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a PE ratio of 30.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on EQR shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.97.

About Equity Residential

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.