M&T Bank Corp Boosts Stake in Equity Residential $EQR

M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 5,700.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 444,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 436,409 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned 0.12% of Equity Residential worth $27,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EQR. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 876.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,500,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,342,000 after purchasing an additional 4,039,752 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 797.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,085,406 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852,970 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 353.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,002,892 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $129,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,241 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,728,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2,810.2% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 1,073,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,992 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Evercore reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.38.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $42,725.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,194,419.07. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $375,474.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 46,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,004,512.03. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,058 shares of company stock valued at $655,078. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.3%

Equity Residential stock opened at $61.67 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $57.57 and a twelve month high of $72.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.73.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 36.20%.The company had revenue of $781.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $786.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.90%.

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.