Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 126,000 Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 126,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $9,042,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Equity Residential by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 182,397 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,430,000 after buying an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Equity Residential by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 32,658 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,341,000 after buying an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 74,027 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,312,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.12.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE:EQR traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.82. The company had a trading volume of 2,106,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,714,025. The company has a market capitalization of $26.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.41 and a 52-week high of $78.84. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $68.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.90.

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, topping 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 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The company's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.73%.

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.