Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 58,515 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 58,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $16,703,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Essex Property Trust at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $294.95 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.60. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders 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.