National Pension Service Has $32.66 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

National Pension Service decreased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,717 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.18% of Essex Property Trust worth $32,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after purchasing an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $131,282,000 after purchasing an additional 269,923 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,766,000 after purchasing an additional 183,947 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,443,000 after purchasing an additional 150,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 205.5% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,838,000 after purchasing an additional 136,240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $311.80 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.84 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $286.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.76. The company has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders 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 3.30%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ESS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays increased 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 note 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 research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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 MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.