Resolution Capital Ltd Sells 133,147 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Resolution Capital Ltd cut its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 517,032 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 133,147 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust accounts for about 2.7% of Resolution Capital Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Resolution Capital Ltd owned 0.80% of Essex Property Trust worth $147,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 632,821 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $180,632,000 after acquiring an additional 3,862 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 53,074 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $15,150,000 after buying an additional 14,356 shares in the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $271,000. Man Group plc raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,028 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 17,452 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,964,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ESS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on 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. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.17.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $285.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 135,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,616. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $284.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.97.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.