Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,652 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ESS. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third 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 worth $212,583,000 after acquiring an additional 633,200 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% in the third 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 buying an additional 269,923 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the third 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 buying an additional 183,947 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,443,000 after buying an additional 150,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $24,823,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $301.55 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

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 the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share 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 a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,545 shares of company stock worth $5,840,299. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ESS. Mizuho dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.