OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Trims Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd trimmed its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,588 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,778 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $6,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 229.8% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of EQR traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $61.54. 1,826,305 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,654,676. The firm has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.84. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $69.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.65.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 29.07%. The business had revenue of $727.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.07 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335. 1.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.32.

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.