Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Sells $2,298,870.00 in Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $308.46. The company had a trading volume of 275,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,154. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current 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 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $287.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.25.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.