Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock Price

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $73.50 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.61% from the company’s previous close.

EQR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Argus set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.63.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $60.20. 349,264 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,635,534. Equity Residential has a one year low of $58.38 and a one year high of $72.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.75.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.35 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 36.20%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. Equity Residential has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.940-0.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $375,474.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 46,131 shares in the company, valued at $3,004,512.03. This represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $236,877.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,740 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,536.20. This trade represents a 16.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 10,058 shares of company stock valued at $655,078 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,728,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,354 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Equity Residential by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,630,103,000 after acquiring an additional 688,854 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $644,412,000 after purchasing an additional 114,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $582,617,000 after acquiring an additional 44,127 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.