TAP Consulting LLC Grows Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

TAP Consulting LLC raised its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the quarter. TAP Consulting LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 593.9% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.04.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $64.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,326,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,103,258. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $69.45. The company has a market cap of $24.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 31.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 given a $0.675 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 4.16%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $50,632.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335. 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.