Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $9.87 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,585 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,849 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Essex Property Trust worth $9,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,955,205,000 after acquiring an additional 61,645 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $500,688,000 after acquiring an additional 32,102 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $426,532,000 after buying an additional 70,785 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $321,928,000 after buying an additional 404,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ESS. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.78.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of ESS traded down $3.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $269.80. The stock had a trading volume of 411,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,394. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $283.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.65. The firm has a market cap of $17.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, 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 (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is owned by company 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.