Leeward Investments LLC MA Sells 1,020 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Leeward Investments LLC MA decreased its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,316 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,020 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $8,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $315,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,126 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $220,612,000 after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 target price (down previously from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 13th. 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 report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $310.28.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE ESS traded up $0.80 during trading on Friday, hitting $284.20. 194,453 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 423,465. The company has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 37.08%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 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.