Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Makes New Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ESS. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $508,381,000 after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $426,532,000 after acquiring an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 183,947 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,612,000 after acquiring an additional 18,704 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $212,583,000 after acquiring an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $295.97 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.90 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $289.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.66.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho lowered their target price 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. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’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 value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,545 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,299. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.