Deutsche Bank AG Has $122.03 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Deutsche Bank AG reduced its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 49.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 427,512 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 420,981 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.67% of Essex Property Trust worth $122,029,000 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. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of 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 worth $5,611,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,027,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in 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 buying an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE ESS traded down $2.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $278.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 447,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,813. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $285.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.14. 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 has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.37%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.89.

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.