D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 190.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,033 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 10,510 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $4,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Crestline Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $4,718,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bramshill Investments LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $700,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 3.4%

ESS stock traded down $9.71 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $277.80. The company had a trading volume of 693,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,502. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 98.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.17.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Essex Property Trust

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.