abrdn plc Acquires 21,024 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 245,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,024 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.06% of Equity Residential worth $15,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,416,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795,772 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 13.8% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,206,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $305,659,000 after acquiring an additional 629,813 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,369,707,000 after acquiring an additional 372,181 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 536.3% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 398,204 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,379,000 after purchasing an additional 335,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 264.0% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 374,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,961,000 after purchasing an additional 271,294 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $64.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.77. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 122.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday. Mizuho dropped their price target 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.75.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Equity Residential

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.