Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock Holdings Increased by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 121.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,342 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,955,205,000 after acquiring an additional 61,645 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $500,688,000 after purchasing an additional 32,102 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $426,532,000 after buying an additional 70,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,928,000 after buying an additional 404,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $287.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $288.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.63. The company has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, 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 twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period last year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 98.37%.

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.