Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 3,565 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,931 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,565 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in 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 buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 87.2% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,706 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 4,056 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,997,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $351,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $71.77 on Monday. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.87 and its 200-day moving average is $70.84.

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

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.69.

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.