1,167 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Bought by GF Fund Management CO. LTD.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,167 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $3.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $281.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 416,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,136. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $281.43 and a 200 day moving average of $289.18. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.17.

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.