Davis Asset Management L.P. Buys Shares of 1,000,000 Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Davis Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,000,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $61,160,000. Equity Residential accounts for 2.5% of Davis Asset Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Davis Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.26% of Equity Residential as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 234,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,739,000 after purchasing an additional 65,982 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 24,787 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 128.7% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 11,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 743,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,636,000 after purchasing an additional 82,773 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE EQR traded up $1.52 on Thursday, hitting $65.56. 2,437,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,126,629. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.82. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Monday. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.04.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,548 shares of company stock worth $666,351. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.