Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. 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 research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $300.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a PEG 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $292.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.66. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.90 and a 52 week high of $317.73.

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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. 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. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 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.