Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CFO Barbara Pak Sells 6,318 Shares of Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.3 %

ESS stock opened at $308.46 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $287.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.34.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,109,000 after buying an additional 46,354 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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 note on Monday, February 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.63.

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.