Yoffe Investment Management LLC Invests $358,000 in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,255 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $312.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. This represents a 42.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS traded up $3.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $281.90. 416,011 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 408,285. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $281.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.18. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm 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 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. On average, equities 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.