Graham Capital Management L.P. Invests $289,000 in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 37,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,703,000 after purchasing an additional 9,163 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 5,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,590,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 190.3% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 16,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,510 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestline Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,718,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of ESS opened at $288.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a P/E 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 12-month low of $243.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $284.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.86. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $312.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last three months. 3.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.