Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by SlateStone Wealth LLC

SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,041,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $294.95 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $289.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share 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, 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 firm 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 dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

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.