Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 7,400 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 38.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,718 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,400 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $301.41 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.40 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $285.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.42. The firm has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.63.

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.