Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,504 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE ESS opened at $305.79 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.90 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $294.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.