Voya Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT)

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT - Free Report) by 87.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 281,067 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Empire State Realty Trust were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESRT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,844,999 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $204,800,000 after buying an additional 461,421 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,720,315 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,394,000 after purchasing an additional 90,758 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,419,970 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,302,000 after purchasing an additional 13,045 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,711,719 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,665,000 after purchasing an additional 44,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,709,524 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,642,000 after purchasing an additional 93,539 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ESRT. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Empire State Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Empire State Realty Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Empire State Realty Trust from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Empire State Realty Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Insider Activity at Empire State Realty Trust

In other news, EVP Thomas P. Durels sold 5,779 shares of Empire State Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total transaction of $46,405.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,028 shares in the company, valued at $449,904.84. The trade was a 9.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 30,122 shares of company stock worth $242,761 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 14.60% of the company's stock.

Empire State Realty Trust Stock Performance

Empire State Realty Trust stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $7.79. 204,066 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,396,942. Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.56 and a 12-month high of $11.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a current ratio of 3.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80 and a beta of 1.60. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $7.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.16.

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter. Empire State Realty Trust had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 2.84%. The company had revenue of $154.54 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Empire State Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.035 dividend. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Empire State Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.67%.

Empire State Realty Trust Profile

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc NYSE: ESRT is a NYC-focused REIT that owns and operates a portfolio of modernized, amenitized, and well-located office, retail, and multifamily assets. The company is the recognized leader in energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality. ESRT's flagship Empire State Building - the "World's Most Famous Building" - includes its Observatory, Tripadvisor's 2023 Travelers' Choice Awards: Best of the Best the #1 attraction in the US for two consecutive years.