Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $10.13 Million Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 165,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,010 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $10,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Equity Residential by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,701,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 67,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,130,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.41.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $66.71. 1,287,936 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,794,302. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Company 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.