Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 733,204 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 123,698 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.14% of Essex Property Trust worth $209,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $263.17 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $293.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $292.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts expect 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 disclosed 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 is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.