Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Sells $842,240.00 in Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $294.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $289.57 and its 200-day moving average is $294.60.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays increased 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

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.