Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by GTS Securities LLC

GTS Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 86.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,407 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 1,577 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $45,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,087 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,469 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last ninety days. 3.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.0%

ESS stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $282.16. 160,146 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,327. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $280.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.02. 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 has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ESS shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 price target (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $312.17.

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.