OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Has $5.49 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,192 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 607,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $173,475,000 after purchasing an additional 36,451 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $297,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 36,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,493,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 28,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,235,000 after buying an additional 3,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $298.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $290.69 and its 200-day moving average is $294.58. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 89.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ESS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.