Whittier Trust Co. Decreases Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,385 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in the 4th 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $300.06 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $292.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.60. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, 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 results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ESS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

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.