Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 161,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,301 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $45,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 156.7% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 59,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,012,000 after buying an additional 36,382 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,955,205,000 after acquiring an additional 61,645 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 32,382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,243,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 3,007 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,654,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value 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. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $305.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $294.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.71.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised 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. Truist Financial raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

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.