Assetmark Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 124.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $220,612,000 after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,126 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ESS shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $294.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $289.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

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.