Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 30,852 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 612,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 30,852 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.95% of Essex Property Trust worth $174,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings 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 worth $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho cut their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $307.54 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $295.94 and its 200 day moving average is $294.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $19.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.90 and a 52-week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

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.