Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Invests $471,000 in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,580 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 51.6% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Equity Residential by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.81.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of EQR traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.12. 1,787,702 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,761,682. The company's fifty day moving average price is $68.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.29. The company has a market capitalization of $25.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Equity Residential's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio 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.