Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lessened its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 35.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 448,189 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 242,872 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.12% of Equity Residential worth $32,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $2,493,426,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 53.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Equity Residential by 12.0% during 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 grew its position in Equity Residential by 172.1% during 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 boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 79.1% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 512,723 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.25.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential stock traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $66.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,362,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,753,223. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $69.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.70. The company has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 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 data 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. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The firm 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 company earned $0.93 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders 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 4.18%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 105.73%.

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.