Gotham Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 50.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,681 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 18,251 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Essex Property Trust worth $15,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. 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 valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $282.62 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $286.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.36. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.85 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, 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.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. The company had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 98.37%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ESS. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $308.11.

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.

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