KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $8.50 Million Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS decreased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 52.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 117,794 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 131,600 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $8,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,372 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 60,899 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 3,392 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 299,901 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $21,521,000 after acquiring an additional 18,851 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 762,032 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $54,028,000 after acquiring an additional 67,998 shares during the period. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 34,053 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,757 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EQR shares. 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 reduced 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.81.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE EQR traded down $0.22 on Monday, hitting $67.15. 249,002 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,857,802. The company's 50 day moving average price is $68.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.24. 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 has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.88. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.41 and a twelve month high of $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were issued a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Equity Residential's dividend 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.