Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,191 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $14,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in 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 buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,109,000 after buying an additional 46,354 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in 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 buying an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in 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 buying an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’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 transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,545 shares of company stock worth $5,840,299 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $292.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $289.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.64. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

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 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 research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. 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. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 89.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. 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, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

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.