Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 3,944 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,762 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 3,944 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $10,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,408,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

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Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE ESS traded up $2.92 on Wednesday, reaching $305.93. The company had a trading volume of 574,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,732. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $293.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $294.61. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ESS. Evercore ISI boosted 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho cut their price target 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. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.