Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Acquired by Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $4,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,733,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,334 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,093,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 541,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $154,635,000 after acquiring an additional 97,350 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $19,422,000. Finally, Gen Wealth Partners Inc boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $285.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $284.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.96.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.37%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. The trade was a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ESS. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI raised their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $312.17.

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.