Insider Selling: Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CFO Sells 6,318 Shares of Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $308.46. 275,846 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 358,154. The business has a fifty day moving average of $287.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.25. The company has a market capitalization of $19.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. 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 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Gen Wealth Partners Inc grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ESS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

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.