Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Has $1.58 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 61.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust comprises approximately 0.6% of Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,955,205,000 after purchasing an additional 61,645 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $500,688,000 after buying an additional 32,102 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $426,532,000 after buying an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,612,000 after buying an additional 18,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $271.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $296.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.20. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 89.08%.

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.