Axa S.A. Sells 7,079 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

AXA S.A. cut its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 45.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,338 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 7,079 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $45,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,087 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 99.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 48,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $14,043,000 after buying an additional 3,316 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.89.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE ESS traded down $3.00 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $277.80. 100,341 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 402,297. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $285.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.14. The company has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 currently 98.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last three months. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.