Lido Advisors LLC Grows Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 169,488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC owned about 0.26% of Essex Property Trust worth $48,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $500,688,000 after acquiring an additional 32,102 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $426,532,000 after acquiring an additional 70,785 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,928,000 after acquiring an additional 404,892 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho reduced their price target 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $275.50 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $290.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.08. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $240.58 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. 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%.

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.