Insider Selling: Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CFO Sells 6,318 Shares of Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $308.46 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $287.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.34. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Gen Wealth Partners Inc raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.