Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,267,761 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 72,477 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.60% of Equity Residential worth $162,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 27.6% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. Evercore ISI raised Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.19.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.71. 1,284,643 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,769,515. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $68.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The company had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equity Residential's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be issued a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 105.73%.

About Equity Residential

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.