ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 632,821 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 3,862 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.98% of Essex Property Trust worth $180,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ESS. 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% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, 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 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. Insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $3.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $288.59. The company had a trading volume of 422,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,719. The stock has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.86. 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 (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business 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 period last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 98.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $312.17.

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.