Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 1,510 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,510 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Essex Property Trust worth $12,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ESS. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $134,000. ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 5,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 256.0% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 236,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,549,000 after buying an additional 34,931 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Group LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $311.99 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $290.16 and its 200-day moving average is $267.29. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.10.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.