BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Decreases Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S decreased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 43.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,294 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 999 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 957,038 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $273,173,000 after buying an additional 18,778 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 5,750 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,647 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 137,098 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,139,000 after acquiring an additional 9,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $913,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESS. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $2.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $277.70. 510,550 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 400,748. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $290.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.08. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $240.58 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share 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 research 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.