Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 32.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 159,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 75,954 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $11,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 482.3% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,153,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $496,040,000 after acquiring an additional 5,925,177 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1,459.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,949,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,494 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 679.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 594,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,528,000 after buying an additional 518,424 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 39.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,676,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $116,245,000 after buying an additional 475,124 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,180,190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $151,174,000 after buying an additional 373,229 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on EQR shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Bank of America downgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.25.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $75.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $28.76 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.12 and a 200-day moving average of $71.10. Equity Residential has a one year low of $56.05 and a one year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 24th were given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.66%.

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.