Nebula Research & Development LLC Acquires New Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,350,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 593.9% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial cut their price target on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.41.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of EQR traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.74. 283,914 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,030,118. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.95. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $69.45. The stock has a market cap of $24.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.85.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. Equity Residential’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is 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.