Graham Capital Management L.P. Makes New Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,011 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $471,258,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $321,928,000 after purchasing an additional 404,892 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $162,925,000 after buying an additional 222,713 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,620.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 197,436 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,835,000 after buying an additional 185,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,443,000 after buying an additional 150,927 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of ESS traded down $9.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $277.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 693,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,502. The company has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $284.47 and a 200 day moving average of $289.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is 98.37%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47% 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 Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17% 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 over the last three months. 3.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ESS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $312.17.

Essex Property Trust 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.