Quarry LP Lowers Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Quarry LP trimmed its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 83.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 367 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,861 shares during the period. Quarry LP's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. 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 valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,334,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,611,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,027,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $4,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last ninety days. 3.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial upped their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $275.13 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $240.58 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.89. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share 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 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 previous year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders 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 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 3.74%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

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.

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