Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Sells $2,298,870.00 in Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS opened at $301.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $288.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.51.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released 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 return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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 3.41%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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. 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 MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.