1,154 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 24.8% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 88,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $475,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,614,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,667,195,000 after purchasing an additional 184,047 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $291.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

ESS stock opened at $235.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.10 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.80. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $252.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $237.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.26.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 155.31%.

Essex Property Trust 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.