Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Purchases New Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $192,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $288.59 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.91. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The business had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 98.37%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $312.17.

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.