Fisher Funds Management LTD Acquires New Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 15,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,329,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.0 %

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $294.47 on Monday. 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 $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $284.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.16. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $225.40 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced 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%. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 84.92%.

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.