Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 579,354 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has decreased its stake in Equity Residential by 28.1%, now holding approximately 1.48 million shares valued at about $106.27 million.
• Equity Residential reported earnings of $0.99 per share, in line with analyst expectations, and had a quarterly revenue of $768.83 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6925 per share, representing a 4.2% yield, with a payout ratio currently at 104.53%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 28.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,484,648 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 579,354 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of Equity Residential worth $106,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter worth about $165,442,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,711,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,482,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,027 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 7,177.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 506,930 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,286,000 after purchasing an additional 499,964 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 190.9% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 674,373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,272,000 after purchasing an additional 442,584 shares during the period. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter worth approximately $27,944,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.50 price target on shares of Equity Residential and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.71.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.9%

EQR traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.71. 2,576,886 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,930,093. The company has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $65.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.37.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.99. Equity Residential had a net margin of 33.22% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $768.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equity Residential has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.970-4.030 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.990-1.030 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be given a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.53%.

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.