Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Acquires 97,350 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 541,741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 97,350 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.84% of Essex Property Trust worth $154,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,955,205,000 after buying an additional 61,645 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $500,688,000 after purchasing an additional 32,102 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $426,532,000 after purchasing an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $321,928,000 after purchasing an additional 404,892 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ESS. Barclays lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $308.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded down $2.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $278.07. 447,709 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 403,813. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $285.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.06. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $458.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 98.37%.

Essex Property Trust 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.