Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 16,767 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $10,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth about $2,493,426,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 53.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after purchasing an additional 696,343 shares during the period. Adelante Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 172.1% in the 4th quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,077,337 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $77,310,000 after purchasing an additional 681,356 shares during the period. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 79.1% in the 4th quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,161,137 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $83,323,000 after purchasing an additional 512,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.19.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $66.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,284,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,769,515. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.84 and a 200-day moving average of $69.50. The company has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.88. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $59.41 and a 12-month high of $78.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $760.81 million during 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 business's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be given a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend 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.