Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Purchases 1,576 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,691 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 18,889 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,392,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Natixis boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 108.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 24,914 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,111,000 after acquiring an additional 12,956 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 5,772 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,648,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 957,038 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $273,173,000 after acquiring an additional 18,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 5,750 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS traded down $1.10 on Friday, reaching $275.50. 241,805 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 400,307. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $240.58 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.08.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $2.57 dividend. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.11.

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.