Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,400 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,226 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.18% of Essex Property Trust worth $32,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in 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. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ESS. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 target price (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of 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. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.17.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS traded up $1.71 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $279.88. The company had a trading volume of 191,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,278. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $281.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.18. The stock has a market cap of $18.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year 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 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. The business had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. 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.