OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Has $5.49 Million Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd cut its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,192 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in 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 buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in 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 buying an additional 986 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ESS. Mizuho lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $298.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.22 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $290.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.58. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Activity

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