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

Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,255 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $1.77 on Friday, reaching $283.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 820,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,778. The company has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $280.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $288.91. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.85 and a 52 week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $312.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the 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 owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.