15,254 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Purchased by Fisher Funds Management LTD

Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 15,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,329,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $4,041,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $294.47 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $284.91 and its 200 day moving average is $293.16. The stock has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $225.40 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.92%.

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.