Equity Residential $EQR Shares Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,045,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 273,673 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $326,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6.8% during the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 48,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,242,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Summitry LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $60.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.75. 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 fifty day moving average of $62.43 and a 200-day moving average of $62.48. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $58.38 and a 52-week high of $72.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.01). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 36.20%.The firm had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $786.35 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $375,474.45. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 10,058 shares of company stock worth $655,078 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Mizuho increased their target price on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.68.

Equity Residential Profile

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.