Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by LVW Advisors LLC

LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 146.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,180 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 16,290 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,812,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 14,761 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,525,000 after buying an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 13,356 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,094,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 136,660 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,896,000 after purchasing an additional 9,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE ESS traded up $2.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $283.36. 562,754 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 412,242. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company's 50 day moving average price is $279.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.51. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its 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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ESS shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $312.17.

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.