Boston Partners Acquires 36,451 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Boston Partners boosted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 607,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,451 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $173,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $508,381,000 after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $426,532,000 after purchasing an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $392,766,000 after purchasing an additional 183,947 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 18,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 732.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

ESS stock opened at $298.84 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The business’s 50-day moving average is $290.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.58. 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 company has a market cap of $19.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ESS. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

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.