DnB Asset Management AS Has $3.78 Million Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 667 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $306.95 on Tuesday. 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 $19.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $294.98 and a 200-day moving average of $294.59.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

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.