Sarasin & Partners LLP Has $4.81 Million Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,290 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $4,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 14,761 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,525,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 13,356 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,094,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 136,660 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,896,000 after acquiring an additional 9,774 shares during the period. Finally, Silvia Mccoll Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESS. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $312.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $281.14. The company had a trading volume of 148,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 411,710. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $279.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $288.48.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 last year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 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.