Ameriprise Financial Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 801,813 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 24,936 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $227,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,320,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in 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 valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during 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. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,192.66. This represents a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last ninety days. 3.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of ESS opened at $287.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. 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’s fifty day moving average is $288.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.63. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. Analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 98.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock 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 raised their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.79.

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.