Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 368,855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,847 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Essex Property Trust worth $105,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $305.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $292.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.58. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.