Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 20,818 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 314.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 20,818 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $2,493,426,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 57,660 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.8% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 165,683 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $468,050,000 after buying an additional 696,343 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $464,718,000 after buying an additional 2,246,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.91. 2,959,946 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,720,097. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.01. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.41 and a fifty-two week high of $78.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 33.11% and a return on equity of 8.93%. 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 prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be issued a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 105.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.25.

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.