Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 9,503 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,503 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $66,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $471,258,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,583,000 after buying an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 154.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,282,000 after purchasing an additional 269,923 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,443,000 after acquiring an additional 150,927 shares during the period. Finally, Waterfront Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $24,823,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $304.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $294.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % 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 worth $6,682,539 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.