Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 43.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,294 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 999 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake 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 worth $1,334,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,611,000 after buying an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $7,027,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $3.44 on Wednesday, reaching $278.60. The company had a trading volume of 731,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,772. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $289.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $240.58 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. The company had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. Sell-side 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last three months. 3.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.11.

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.