3,250 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Bought by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $813,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 111.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Lincoln National Corp raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.6% in the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $291.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.24.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $250.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $253.53. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.77.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

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.