Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $66.43 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 232,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,503 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.36% of Essex Property Trust worth $66,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th 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. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $304.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $294.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.76. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

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.