Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 159 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd decreased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 159 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 111.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 645.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ESS. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $256.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.28.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $259.40. The company had a trading volume of 225,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,839. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $203.85 and a 1-year high of $269.23. The stock has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 3.19, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $247.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $237.88.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.80%.

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.