Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 233,552 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,541 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.36% of Essex Property Trust worth $66,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $7,027,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $0.72 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $275.88. The company had a trading volume of 122,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,170. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $289.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.89. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $240.58 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

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.