Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 58,515 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 58,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $16,703,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $294.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

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.