Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 5,301 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,301 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.25% of Essex Property Trust worth $45,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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 note 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ESS opened at $305.79 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $294.51 and its 200 day moving average is $294.71. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a PE 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.