SVB Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 1,102 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,102 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $306.63.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. This represents a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,545 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,299. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $301.55. 554,556 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 357,204. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.90 and a 52 week 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders 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 represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio 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.