Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Has $162.93 Million Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 64.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 222,713 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.89% of Essex Property Trust worth $162,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock traded down $2.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $286.30. 213,139 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 400,532. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $288.05 and a 200 day moving average of $290.60. The firm has a market cap of $18.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given 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 yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % 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 three months. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $306.79.

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.