Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Bought by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 389,072 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 4,674 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.10% of Equity Residential worth $27,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 49.9% in the 4th 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. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $355,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% in the 4th 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 grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 299,901 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $21,521,000 after purchasing an additional 18,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 9.8% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 67,998 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EQR. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased 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. Scotiabank cut their price target 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. Mizuho cut 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.81.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.38. 1,507,273 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,869,598. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.41 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

Equity Residential Company 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.