Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Holdings Lifted by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 216.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during 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 period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,611,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $7,027,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 315.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 price objective (down previously from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $312.17.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $0.91 on Monday, reaching $284.81. 412,822 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 410,468. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $280.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.37%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 $527,904. The trade was a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.