Davis Selected Advisers Has $9.49 Million Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Davis Selected Advisers trimmed its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 210 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers owned 0.05% of Essex Property Trust worth $9,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 162.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,109,000 after purchasing an additional 46,354 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’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 value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,545 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,299 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $301.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $288.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.51. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

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.