Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Equity Residential $EQR

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,281,354 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.15% of Equity Residential worth $3,728,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 58.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 2,090 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 39.3% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 6.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,076 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 33,401 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,234,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $42,725.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,194,419.07. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,058 shares of company stock valued at $655,078. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.6%

Equity Residential stock opened at $63.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.31. Equity Residential has a one year low of $58.38 and a one year high of $75.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.76.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $781.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $786.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 94.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $73.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Evercore upped their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.78.

Equity Residential Company Profile

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.