Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Keith R. Guericke Sells 7,298 Shares

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $308.46. 275,846 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 358,154. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $287.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.25. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $19.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G 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 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%. As a group, equities research 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 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 89.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 14.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,770,000 after purchasing an additional 3,081 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 205.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,838,000 after purchasing an additional 136,240 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 121,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,790,000 after purchasing an additional 20,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.4% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 131,901 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,966,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.