Avior Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 88.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,635 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.5% in the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 6,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.9% in the first quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 22,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.3% in the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 9,989 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $904,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 17.4% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of EQR stock opened at $61.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $69.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.65.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.18). Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $727.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 122.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335. Insiders own 1.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Raymond James raised shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.32.

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.