American Century Companies Inc. Increases Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 368,855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,847 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $105,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $305.21 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $292.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.58. The stock has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a PEG 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. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ESS. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

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.