Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,460 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,641 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,460 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $7,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.3% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,217 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.6% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 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 weighed in on ESS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 price target (down previously from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $310.28.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $286.54. The company had a trading volume of 528,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 426,074. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $283.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.70. The stock has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 98.37%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.