Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $3.22 Million Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,931 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,565 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 607.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 109.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 208.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.50.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded down $0.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.56. 685,932 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,726,888. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.84. The business's 50 day moving average is $68.94 and its 200-day moving average is $70.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is 105.73%.

Equity Residential Company 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.