Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Position Raised by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 32.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,497 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 9,163 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $10,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $471,258,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $321,928,000 after acquiring an additional 404,892 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $162,925,000 after acquiring an additional 222,713 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1,620.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 197,436 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $55,835,000 after acquiring an additional 185,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,443,000 after acquiring an additional 150,927 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $286.36 on Tuesday. 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 $18.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $285.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.21. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 98.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced 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 Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.89.

Essex Property Trust 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.