DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 667 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 77,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 232,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,426,000 after buying an additional 9,503 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,774,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $471,258,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 25,995 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted 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 research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $306.95 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $294.98 and its 200-day moving average is $294.59. 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 capitalization of $19.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. 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. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Essex Property Trust 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.