abrdn plc Has $24.87 Million Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

abrdn plc boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 219.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 68,951 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $24,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 632.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,719,000 after purchasing an additional 12,954 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 201.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 534,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $132,639,000 after purchasing an additional 357,268 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $3,304,000. JLP Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $2,802,000. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 16.2% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $227.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $242.15 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $252.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $237.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.38. The company has a market capitalization of $15.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $2.45 dividend. 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 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 155.31%.

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.