Axa S.A. Decreases Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $45,550,000 after buying an additional 15,087 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 99.9% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 48,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,043,000 after buying an additional 3,316 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during 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 buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $308.11.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded up $0.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $282.62. 214,010 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 403,633. 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 $286.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.36. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a PEG 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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.64%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.