Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Dean Investment Associates LLC

Dean Investment Associates LLC cut its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 178 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $471,258,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,620.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 197,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,835,000 after acquiring an additional 185,958 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,443,000 after purchasing an additional 150,927 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,450,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,701,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial raised 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.11.

Insider Activity

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $272.85 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

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.