Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.20% of Essex Property Trust worth $220,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,334,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $22,109,000 after acquiring an additional 46,354 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value 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 $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,545 shares of company stock worth $5,840,299. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ESS traded down $2.69 on Monday, reaching $299.05. 483,396 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 357,709. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $288.49 and a 200 day moving average of $294.60.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

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.