Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by Diversify Wealth Management LLC

Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 77.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,528 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 5,924 shares during the quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ESS. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 25,591 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 754,179 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $222,800,000 after purchasing an additional 47,114 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 741,053 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $201,715,000 after purchasing an additional 6,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during 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 buying an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $316.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $305.42.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $283.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 364,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,089. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company's 50 day moving average is $293.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.96. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.06 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $445.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Essex Property Trust 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.