Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 18,324 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 689,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,324 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $170,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 111.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 645.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ESS. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.76.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $259.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 3.19 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 $259.78. The company has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $242.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.75.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $2.45 dividend. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.80%.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.