Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service cut its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR – Get Rating) by 0.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 505,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $33,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Long Pond Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,962,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Equity Residential by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,647,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $328,002,000 after acquiring an additional 943,870 shares during the period. Echo Street Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 264.6% during the 2nd quarter. Echo Street Capital Management LLC now owns 1,060,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,602,000 after acquiring an additional 769,773 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Equity Residential by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,341,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $169,105,000 after acquiring an additional 652,761 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,006,000. 82.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on EQR shares. Argus raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 17th. BTIG Research cut Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $58.91 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $57.38 and a 1-year high of $94.32. The company has a market capitalization of $22.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 27th will be paid a $0.6625 dividend. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.50%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.36%.

About Equity Residential

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Equity Residential operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the acquisition, development, and management of rental apartment properties, which includes the generation of rental and other related income through the leasing of apartment units to residents. The company was founded by Robert H.