Guggenheim Capital LLC Sells 48,119 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 95.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,146 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 48,119 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ESS. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $45,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,087 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 25.2% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $575,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 99.9% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE ESS traded up $2.29 on Thursday, hitting $281.44. 56,035 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 400,420. The company's 50-day moving average price is $289.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $240.58 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $18.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.11.

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.