Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Purchases Shares of 717 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $295.97 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $289.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.66. The company has a market cap of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share 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%. Research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho dropped 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 report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 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. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the company’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 owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. This represents a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,545 shares of company stock worth $5,840,299. 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.