J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Takes Position in Equity Residential $EQR

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 9,902 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $584,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,201,674,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 227.7% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,405,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $466,869,000 after purchasing an additional 5,145,442 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in 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. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EQR. Wolfe Research raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.80.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $68.29 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $57.57 and a 52 week high of $71.50. The firm has a market cap of $25.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $779.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a $0.7025 dividend. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.40%.

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.