Achmea Investment Management B.V. Purchases 9,354 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 78.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,352 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 9,354 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $6,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $131,282,000 after purchasing an additional 269,923 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the 3rd 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. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,443,000 after purchasing an additional 150,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $24,823,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock traded down $1.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $298.84. 402,471 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 358,264. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.60. 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 has a market capitalization of $19.22 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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.