Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Grows Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 61.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust accounts for approximately 0.6% of Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,675,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $365,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $661,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $36,450,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $271.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $296.16 and a 200-day moving average of $294.20. 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 firm has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released 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 return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.