Intech Investment Management LLC Invests $297,000 in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,040 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research 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 report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.16.

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Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.3 %

Essex Property Trust stock traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $305.79. The company had a trading volume of 288,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 385,138. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $294.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.71. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73. 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 (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is 89.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % 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 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 sale, 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 a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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.