Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Adelante Capital Management LLC

Adelante Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 65.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 395,981 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 758,913 shares during the period. Equity Residential comprises approximately 1.3% of Adelante Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Adelante Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Equity Residential worth $29,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Equity Residential in the first quarter worth approximately $1,644,000. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at $2,841,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 3.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 33,184 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.4% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 150,186 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,328,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 44.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,518 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America downgraded Equity Residential from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Equity Residential from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.25.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded down $0.82 on Friday, reaching $76.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,464,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,463,315. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.42. 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 cap of $29.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.42, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $56.40 and a 52-week high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.66%.

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.