New York Life Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

New York Life Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 43.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,548 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,477 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 64.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,873 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 14.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,770,000 after buying an additional 3,081 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 205.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,838,000 after acquiring an additional 136,240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ESS. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $311.80 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $286.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $293.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.84 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

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.