State of Alaska Department of Revenue Lowers Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,390 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $10,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 104.5% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $89,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $305.74.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $297.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $223.06 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $287.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.36.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted 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 return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

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.