B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Purchases Shares of 26,687 Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 26,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,987,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $220,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Equity Residential by 19.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 28,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after buying an additional 4,664 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential by 35.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,279,095,000 after buying an additional 381,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 582,918 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,788,000 after acquiring an additional 18,489 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of EQR stock opened at $75.18 on Friday. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $56.05 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.97. The stock has a market cap of $28.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were given 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 3.59%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 110.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

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.