Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Buys 2,495 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 355.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,495 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Assetmark Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE ESS opened at $288.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a PEG 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 released 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 company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $3.83 EPS. Equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. The trade was a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last ninety days. 3.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on ESS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $312.17.

About Essex Property Trust

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.