DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Has $11.29 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 15.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 47,068 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,163 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $11,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 111.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 112.3% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 645.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock traded down $4.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $281.66. The company had a trading volume of 590,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,821. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $274.94 and a 200 day moving average of $253.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 3.19. The firm has a market cap of $18.09 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $292.37.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 119.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ESS. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $232.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.65.

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.