Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $16,703,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $315,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,126 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $287.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $281.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 11.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price 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. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.28.

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.