M&T Bank Corp Sells 3,952 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

M&T Bank Corp lessened its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,952 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,493,426,000. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 valued at $464,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,555 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $468,050,000 after purchasing an additional 696,343 shares during the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 172.1% during the fourth quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,077,337 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $77,310,000 after purchasing an additional 681,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 79.1% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of EQR stock traded down $0.89 on Tuesday, hitting $66.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,292,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,764,618. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.41 and a twelve month high of $78.84. The firm has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.88. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.39.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analyst estimates of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's payout ratio is presently 105.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.81.

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.