OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 31.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,684 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,250 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of 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. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $7,027,000. 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 valued at $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vert Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 28,367 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,097,000 after buying an additional 2,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.
Essex Property Trust Trading Down 3.4%
ESS traded down $9.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $277.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 693,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,502. The firm has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $284.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.95. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.
Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 98.37%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have issued reports on ESS. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Truist Financial raised their target price 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $312.17.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Essex Property Trust
Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust
In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.
About Essex Property Trust
(
Free Report)
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.
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