Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Takes $813,000 Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,250 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $813,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 978,639 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $207,560,000 after buying an additional 55,903 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 828,191 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $175,651,000 after acquiring an additional 71,359 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 13.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 776,149 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $164,233,000 after purchasing an additional 89,198 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 643,250 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $136,427,000 after purchasing an additional 32,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 201.1% in 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 during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $247.24.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock traded up $0.51 on Friday, hitting $250.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 399,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,183. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $203.85 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.19. The stock's 50 day moving average is $240.34 and its 200-day moving average is $232.99. The company has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

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