Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Acquired by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after acquiring an additional 633,200 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after purchasing an additional 424,157 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $84,393,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,282,000 after acquiring an additional 269,923 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.11.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.8 %

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $279.01 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $223.06 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $17.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.52.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

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.