Voloridge Investment Management LLC Sells 255,894 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 85.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,617 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 255,894 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,493,426,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,664,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $837,050,000 after purchasing an additional 57,660 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,519,627 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $681,594,000 after purchasing an additional 165,683 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $566,749,000 after purchasing an additional 152,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 12.0% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.50.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of EQR stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $70.08. 3,122,806 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,721,605. The stock has a market cap of $26.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.63.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.6925 dividend. This is an increase from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is 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.