Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys New Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 66,676 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $4,965,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 69.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQR. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $62.00 to $83.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE EQR traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $74.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,479,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,832,255. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $57.33 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $28.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.56.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. 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.