Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Has $487,000 Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 33.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 25.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 89.4% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. Mizuho raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $291.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of ESS opened at $239.29 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $252.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.26. The firm has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 155.31%.

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.