Angela L. Kleiman Sells 4,929 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ESS traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $308.46. 275,846 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 358,154. The business has a 50-day moving average of $287.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.25. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG 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 (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.