125,073 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Acquired by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 125,073 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $35,701,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.19% of Essex Property Trust at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.9% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,087 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 25.2% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,082,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 92.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $575,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. One 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $275.37 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $234.77 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $291.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.51.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.