Korea Investment CORP Increases Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 156.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,382 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $17,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 633,200 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 154.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $131,282,000 after buying an additional 269,923 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,443,000 after buying an additional 150,927 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $426,532,000 after buying an additional 70,785 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,955,205,000 after acquiring an additional 61,645 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $305.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.71. The company has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

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 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid 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 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

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.