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

Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 35,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,884 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $10,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last 90 days. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of 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. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ESS opened at $277.70 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $240.58 and a twelve month high of $317.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $17.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.06, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $289.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.00.

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, 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, research 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.