Jones Financial Companies Lllp Purchases 185 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 486.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $64,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at about $541,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 92.2% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $300.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $290.12 and a 200-day moving average of $294.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.