Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Buys Shares of 1,279 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,279 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in 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 worth $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.11.

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Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

Essex Property Trust stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $263.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 552,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,029. The company has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.90 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The firm's 50 day moving average is $293.47 and its 200 day moving average is $292.18.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company'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 owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 worth $6,682,539 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.90% 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.