Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd has reduced its holdings in Equity Residential by 21.6%, selling 3,864 shares and now owning 13,985 shares worth approximately $998,000.
• Equity Residential reported a quarterly EPS of $0.95, surpassing analysts' expectations by $0.02, although its revenue of $760.81 million fell short of estimates of $769.43 million.
• The company's quarterly dividend of $0.6925 reflects an annualized payout of $2.77, resulting in a dividend yield of 4.09%, though its dividend payout ratio stands at an unusually high 105.73%.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd cut its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,985 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,864 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in 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 valued at $464,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,555 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 boosted its stake in shares of 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. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 79.1% during the 4th quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,161,137 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $83,323,000 after purchasing an additional 512,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 7,177.2% in the 1st 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. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.40.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,659,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,901,893. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $67.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.16. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a market capitalization of $23.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 4.4%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.