Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Purchased by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,645 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 7,250 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 607.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Equity Residential by 208.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.69.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of EQR traded down $0.21 during trading on Monday, reaching $71.35. 1,571,687 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,731,918. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.84. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.41 and a twelve 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 34.76% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The company had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.