Heartland Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,501 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,422 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust comprises approximately 1.1% of Heartland Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.11% of Essex Property Trust worth $19,838,000 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 the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho reduced 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. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded down $1.66 on Tuesday, hitting $304.91. 88,460 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 384,703. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50-day moving average is $294.98 and its 200 day moving average is $294.59.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. 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 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.