American Century Companies Inc. Has $105.29 Million Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 368,855 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 43,847 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.57% of Essex Property Trust worth $105,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ESS traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $305.79. The company had a trading volume of 288,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 385,138. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $294.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.76. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

Remove Ads

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, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESS. Truist Financial increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.16.

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.