Citigroup Inc. Has $40.25 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 55,243 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.21% of Essex Property Trust worth $40,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 147.9% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 937 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $532,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 326.3% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 147,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,199,000 after purchasing an additional 113,178 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 45.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 48.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $305.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $297.17 and its 200 day moving average is $285.57. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $210.36 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The business had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 114.49%.

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.