1,310 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Bought by Algert Global LLC

Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,310 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. 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 worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ESS. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $312.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS traded up $3.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $288.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 422,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,719. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $284.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 98.37%.

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.