Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Lowers Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 42.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,096 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 19,787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,648,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,504 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,286,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 78.0% in the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 21,352 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,095,000 after buying an additional 9,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 588.0% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,346 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after buying an additional 7,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $298.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $290.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.58. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

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

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.