Andra AP fonden Purchases 9,200 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Andra AP fonden lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,200 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $17,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $301.55 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The business’s 50-day moving average is $288.49 and its 200 day moving average is $294.51.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company 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 $2.57 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % 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 worth $5,840,299. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Mizuho decreased their price target on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.63.

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.