LPL Financial LLC Boosts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,537 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Essex Property Trust worth $9,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,334,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,611,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,027,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $541,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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, Truist Financial increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $271.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $296.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.32.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued 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%. Equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.