Corebridge Financial Inc. Reduces Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $4,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,955,205,000 after acquiring an additional 61,645 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $508,381,000 after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $426,532,000 after purchasing an additional 70,785 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $220,612,000 after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after buying an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $305.79 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $294.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.61. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. On average, analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 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 owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was 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. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

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.