Diversify Advisory Services LLC Has $1.91 Million Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 17.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 925 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth $82,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 52.9% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on ESS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 target price (down previously from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $310.94.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded up $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $287.48. The company had a trading volume of 301,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 426,616. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $283.27 and a 200 day moving average of $285.70. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 11.81%. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is 98.37%.

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.