Platform Technology Partners Buys New Shares in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Platform Technology Partners purchased a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,423 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $2,493,426,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,664,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $837,050,000 after acquiring an additional 57,660 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,519,627 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $681,594,000 after acquiring an additional 165,683 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after buying an additional 696,343 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,476,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $464,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,555 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR traded up $0.81 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.94. 1,263,710 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,760,792. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.88. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on EQR. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.81.

Equity Residential Profile

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.