B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 900 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG decreased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 41.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $275,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,456,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 48.7% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 2,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 36.9% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 38,718 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,438,000 after buying an additional 10,426 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $271.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.90 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $296.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced 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 return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a positive change 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 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Essex Property Trust 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.