Morgan Stanley Upgrades Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) to Overweight

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $74.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $72.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 25.96% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on EQR. Argus set a $70.00 price target on Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Mizuho lifted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets cut Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $63.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.73.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $58.75 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $57.57 and a twelve month high of $72.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.00. 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 company has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.75.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $781.91 million for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm 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, analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,281,354 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 566.7% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 115,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,456,000 after purchasing an additional 97,906 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 34.6% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 568,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,446,000 after purchasing an additional 146,148 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 605,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,194,000 after purchasing an additional 26,590 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 209,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,471,000 after purchasing an additional 17,014 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.