Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 61,645 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Essex Property Trust worth $2,955,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $303.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $293.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.61.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.16.

About Essex Property Trust

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.