CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Sells 4,584 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC decreased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,584 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $7,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $305.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $295.39 and a 200 day moving average of $294.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.90 and a 52 week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.