Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Increases Stake in Equity Residential $EQR

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1,180.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 47,020 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 435.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 2,623 shares in the last quarter. Aew Capital Management L P lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 186,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,737,000 after buying an additional 4,760 shares in the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $786,000. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $492,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 112.4% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.11.

Equity Residential News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Equity Residential this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Equity Residential’s merger with AvalonBay could improve scale, operating efficiency, and bargaining power across a portfolio of more than 180,000 rental apartments, supporting the investment case for the combined company. What the AvalonBay, Equity Residential megamerger means for the apartment industry and rents
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several forward earnings estimates for Equity Residential, including Q1 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, Q1 2028 and FY2028, signaling improved longer-term earnings expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some 2026 and Q2 2027 EPS estimates were trimmed slightly, suggesting near-term earnings expectations are not uniformly improving, even as longer-dated forecasts rise.
• Negative Sentiment: The merger has also drawn shareholder-rights investigations, which could add legal noise and uncertainty around whether EQR investors are receiving a fair price in the deal.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of EQR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.21 and a 200 day moving average of $61.90. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $57.57 and a 52-week high of $70.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $779.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.79 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 30.63%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were given a $0.7025 dividend. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 112.40%.

Equity Residential Company 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.