Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stake Cut by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,404 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 306,681 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.28% of Essex Property Trust worth $51,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alethea Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $374,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 801,813 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $227,398,000 after buying an additional 24,936 shares in the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,549 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 6,342 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.17.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:ESS traded up $3.16 on Friday, reaching $288.59. The stock had a trading volume of 422,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,547. The company has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $284.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.89. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm earned $3.83 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

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.