Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 70.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,663 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,105 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $4,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.1% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 534,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $132,639,000 after purchasing an additional 357,268 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 119.3% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 412,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $102,602,000 after buying an additional 224,554 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5,069.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 208,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,253,000 after acquiring an additional 204,615 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 13.0% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 776,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $164,233,000 after acquiring an additional 89,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 9.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 828,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,651,000 after purchasing an additional 71,359 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Raymond James upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.24.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $250.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The company has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $203.85 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $239.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.56.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $2.45 dividend. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.