KBC Group NV Sells 61,437 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

KBC Group NV cut its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 27.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 164,331 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 61,437 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.26% of Essex Property Trust worth $50,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $471,258,000. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $384,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 35,500.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 448,205 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $137,406,000 after buying an additional 446,946 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $321,928,000 after purchasing an additional 404,892 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $162,925,000 after buying an additional 222,713 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Barclays increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.28.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded down $1.24 on Wednesday, hitting $283.53. 433,393 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 422,774. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $282.50 and a 200-day moving average of $285.81.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 11.81%. The business had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.37%.

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.